Crumbling Caliphate
by phoenixdown7
Summary: COMPLETE[SasuNaru]When Naruto gets into more trouble than he's bargained for in the 1500ish Ottoman Empire, the third Caliph sends him into slavery for the Sultan. Naru soon learns that he doesn't know himself very well at all...
1. Prologue

AN: I do not own Naruto...pity me.  
  
This fic will eventually grow into a sasunaru pairing, so be warned.  
  
For all of you who have already been reading this story...this chapter has been revised. I felt the need to add a new scene so that the story will ultimately tie up better later on. It will help with the ending I have planned, trust me.  
  
Prologue  
  
"Hey, hey...Chichi-ue?!"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Tell me that story again...please?"  
  
The young man called Iruka sighed and brought the old, flea bitten covers up around the small boy's chin. "Which one?"  
  
"The one about the fox djinn (1)!" The young boy stared at him, as though it was obvious.  
  
"Oh yes, that one." Iruka mumbled. The one I have been telling every night for the past month. I should have never given in to him in the first place!  
  
"Well?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"The story!" The boy was pouting now, his clear blue eyes misting up.  
  
"Okay, okay..." Iruka paused, finding himself a comfortable position on the hard bed. "Once upon a time..."  
  
"That's not right!"  
  
"What's not right?"  
  
"The beginning! I don't want to hear about Cinderella!"  
  
Iruka let out a loud breath and scowled lightly at the stubborn boy. "I'm not telling you a fairytale, Naruto. I'm telling you the legend of the evil fox djinn."  
  
"Nuh-uh! It's never started like that before." The young boy called Naruto crossed his arms and looked up at his father defiantly.  
  
"Well, it does now. Don't you want some variety?"  
  
The boy just shook his head. "That makes it sound like a mushy-girly kinda story."  
  
Iruka just stared at the boy trying not to laugh at the new scowl painted on the boy's face. "Alright...who am I to argue with the great Naruto?"  
  
"That's right!" The boy looked too pleased.  
  
By now Naruto was sitting up in his bed, so Iruka took the time to push him gently back against his worn pillow and tuck him in tightly 'urck!' as he began the story...again.  
  
"Approximately four decades ago, in this very village, an evil fox demon appeared in the surrounding forests. The Great Fourth Caliph (2) took it upon himself to confront the beast as this djinn was incredibly strong. Seeing that the battle had no perceivable end, the Fourth Caliph used his greatest technique and..."  
  
"Oooh...I know! I know! He sealed the evil fox spirit into a small human boy!" Naruto exclaimed, completely undoing the tight tuck-in Iruka had accomplished earlier.  
  
"Yes, Naruto." Iruka smiled with a glint of harmless irritation and retucked the boy in. "Maybe next time you can tell the story, ne?"  
  
"huh? No way! Besides, you tell it best!"  
  
"Sorry Naruto that was my last time."  
  
"Awww!" The whiskered boy fell back against his bed in disappointment.  
  
"Goodnight Naruto-kun." Iruka leant down, ignoring the boy's growing pout, and gave him a soft fatherly peck on the forehead.  
  
Iruka got off the bed and was already half way towards the door when the boy asked another question.  
  
"Ne?" He yawned loudly, displaying a slightly longer tongue than a normal child's, "Chichi-ue?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Who was that boy?"  
  
"Which one?" Iruka had known exactly which boy he was referring to, but felt it safer to play dumb.  
  
"You know! The one with the sealed Fox Djinn!" The boy cried out in exasperation, pushing himself back up off his bed.  
  
"I don't know, besides this didn't really happen, it's only a legend."  
  
The boy looked back at him thoughtfully, a rare sight, then mumbled. "You're lying, I know it's real."  
  
Iruka was careful not to let his jaw drop at the words. Oh no, is he figuring it out? "You don't know that."  
  
"It has to be." The boy had a distant look in his eyes, a look Iruka would have liked to forget. It was reminiscent of the blank look the young boy naturally projected when he found him on the street years ago.  
  
They both stayed silent for awhile, each stuck in their own worlds.  
  
"Chichi-ue?"  
  
Iruka almost jumped at the near whisper. "Yes?"  
  
"What's this symbol on my belly?"  
  
Iruka stared as Naruto pulled his tattered pajama shirt up, revealing the precise, dark lines of the fox djinn curse seal – although he didn't know that little piece of information yet and Iruka was not going to be the one to tell him about it, especially not now.  
  
"I don't know, you had that when I found you." He watched the boy turn silent, staring and poking absently at the spiral tattoo. "Good night, Naruto."  
  
It wasn't until he closed the rough wooden door that he heard a small, "Good night." whispered back.  
  
..............................  
  
Meanwhile, in a grand sandstone house within the very same city, a boy with hair the color of midnight was sprawled across a floor drenched in blood.  
  
The sickening scene was completely silent except for an almost incoherent muttering escaping the sobbing boy's lips.  
  
"Why...brother...why? You did it...you did this to them...mother...father...Auntie...Uncle..." The boy let in a shuddering breath and slowly pushed himself up, staring vacuously at a wall splattered with the blood of his family.  
  
He let in a long shuddering breath and hardened his gaze, as though willing the stains to disappear through the power of his glare.  
  
"I will kill you."  
  
Then the boy disappeared into the desert night, carrying his vehement words with him.  
  
Author's notes: (1) An Arab word for a type of demon. Djinns are usually more magical creatures, but I've decided it will do...so deal with it!  
  
(2) As this story takes place in the1500ish Ottoman Empire, I have changed the name of the Hokage into the bureaucratic leaders of cities of the Ottoman Empire, the Caliphs. This story will continue to have these terms imbedded in it and I will explain what they mean along the way. I don't want anyone to get completely confused! Only slightly so...  
  
Chichi-ue is the informal Japanese term for father.  
  
That said, I'll also have to explain why I am still using Japanese terms. Simply put, I feel like it would take away from the Naruto-ness of the story if they didn't speak close to how they speak in the manga/anime. Thus, I am keeping some Japanese, like Ojiisan and Kun and other suffixes.  
  
The rest of the story will deal with the tale of Naruto as if it took place within the Ottoman Caliphate around 1500ish. I got this idea when studying for a history exam...'nuff said. 


	2. For Every Action, There is an Equal and ...

AN: I don't own Naruto...and if I did I sure as hell wouldn't be writing fanfic like a geek!  
  
Chapter 1  
For Every Action, There is an Equal and Opposite Reaction  
  
"Naruto, do you ever stop to breathe?"  
  
Naruto just looked at up at Iruka blankly, noodles still hanging from his mouth. "Wha?"  
  
"Never mind."  
  
The blonde to his right continued to inhale his Ramen at an alarming rate. Iruka took this opportunity to people-watch, a favorite pastime of his – seeing as how Naruto was never much of a conversationalist when they ate. Iruka sighed dejectedly for what must have been the millionth time since he had taken the boy in. The boy was such trouble sometimes, but he knew he would never change his decision to take care of him if he could.  
  
The day was becoming hot at the Gyro stand and Iruka could almost smell the sweat rising off of the eating customers around him. Of course, the days had been hot for most of the year, so he was used to it. They lived in a desert after all. An oasis within the desert, but a desert nonetheless.  
  
Iruka watched Naruto finish the last of his Ramen and ask for another steaming hot bowl and wondered how Naruto could stand that in this heat. Iruka felt his mouth turn into a smile, this boy was so odd.  
  
Looking around the stand and the surrounding street, Iruka saw the familiar teeming crowds of balaclava clad women going about their daily shopping. The butcher was calling out the prices for various cuts of meat, most of it brought in from Africa and Alexandria across the Mediterranean. Right beside him, ornate Asian rugs were being sold for extravagant prices, the cost of long distance trade. A large Christian woman sat down beside Naruto and ordered a Lamb Gyro. Feeling the afternoon heat beginning to get to him, Iruka lazily turned his head to his right and almost jumped out of his seat.  
  
"Who..."  
  
Iruka looked up with a nagging feeling at a masked face with two beady charcoal black eyes staring right back at him.  
  
"We've come for the boy."  
  
Oh no, not again. Iruka looked behind him to see a half-eaten bowl of Ramen and an empty seat recently occupied by Naruto. He looked up to see the boy had already made it halfway up the street before Iruka and the guard jumped up to run after him.  
  
"What'd he do this time?" Iruka panted at the guard.  
  
"A first-degree offense." The guard continued to look ahead and jumped over a stray cart. "He vandalized the Caliph's palace."  
  
Iruka almost had to stop in his tracks in shock. "What? NO!"  
  
But the guard didn't answer, he was already about to turn a corner down a side alley.  
  
Not wanting the guard to find the little trouble-maker first, Iruka grabbed onto a loose laundry line and jumped onto a nearby roof. He ran as fast as he could, jumping from roof to roof and watching for a bright yellow moving dot in the streets below.  
  
"There!" Iruka exclaimed and jumped off right into the boy's path.  
  
"Ooomf!" Naruto hit Iruka's chest and fell back hard against the cobblestone streets.  
  
"Naruto!"  
  
Naruto looked up guiltily, he knew he was in trouble now. "Yeah?"  
  
"You graffittied the Caliph's palace?!"  
  
"Well, I wouldn't call it graffiti." Naruto mumbled, getting up and dusting off his clothes a little too casually. "It was art! You should have seen the pictures they were soo...."  
  
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE PICTURES, NARUTO!"  
  
"But..."  
  
"No buts, Naruto. You're now officially grounded. We're going home!"  
  
Iruka just turned his back on the boy when three black masked guards landed in his path.  
  
"I'm sorry, but we're going to have to take the criminal with us."  
  
Shit! Iruka noticed that Naruto was standing in shock, his mouth hanging wide open. Sooner or later Iruka knew this would happen. Naruto had done troublesome things before to get attention, but he had never done anything to warrant an arrest. This was big.  
  
"Please, gentlemen." Iruka called out as one of the guards grabbed hold of Naruto's arm. "Can't we come to some sort of an agreement?"  
  
"No."  
  
"But..."  
  
"Sorry," Another guard said next to him. "The law is clear."  
  
Naruto looked too lost and confused to struggle, but his glazed look was slowly fading to one of indignation. "Chichi-ue! Don't let them take me!"  
  
"I..." Iruka paused in helplessness. "I'm sorry Naruto."  
  
The look on the boy's face was one of surprise and hurt. Iruka wanted to look away but he couldn't.  
  
The guards dragged the boy past Iruka and out towards the teeming street. Naruto continued to look back at Iruka pleadingly.  
  
Seeing that Iruka wasn't going to help him, Naruto began to struggle more. "Geroff me!"  
  
He kicked and struggled and actually made a hit to one of the guard's shins. "Oof!"  
  
"Stupid kid!"  
  
Naruto couldn't move as a hand whipped out and punched him in the jaw rendering him lax in the guard's arms.  
  
"Heh."  
  
Iruka could only watch on in burning anger. There was nothing he could do. They would take him in front of the court and the Caliph's ministerial guard would decide the boy's fate. Iruka had heard of the punishments given to criminals. They were too harsh for a young boy. He had to do something. Iruka thought, almost hysterically. He had to save Naruto and take him away...far away where they couldn't find him...yeah, that was it...he'd just...  
  
Just as Iruka had made up his mind, however, the air around the boy began to crackle menacingly, making the guards holding him stop and stare at their captive.  
  
"What the...? Aaargh!"  
  
Iruka had to cover his eyes at the sudden blast of light. When he opened his eyes again, he had to blink at the sight.  
  
There in the middle of the street, three guards' bodies splayed out around him, stood a slightly hunched over Naruto with an amazing amount of chakra emanating from his small form.  
  
"Na..Naruto?" Iruka stepped forward a fraction.  
  
Naruto looked back at him at the sound of his voice, but what Iruka saw was completely unfamiliar. Where the blonde boy's eyes used to be bright blue, they were now a deep mahogany with slits for pupils. His usual whisker marks on each cheek were now elongated and darker against his pale skin and his fingers were clearly clawed.  
  
"Naruto..." He looks and feels like the fox djinn...did it...?  
  
The boy smiled, showing off another change, pointed canine fangs.  
  
Just when Iruka had begun to worry that he had lost Naruto to the evil fox djinn within him, the boy jumped up and exclaimed, "I did it!"  
  
In all of his shock, Iruka was still able to feel a wave of relief wash over him as the boy's features went back to normal.  
  
Naruto laughed and whoopahed heartily. "I did it Chichi-ue! I did it!"  
  
Iruka smiled, but still felt incredibly worried. This was worse than their original situation. If they were caught now – an Orphan Christian boy and his surrogate, Christian father who had been witness to an obstructed arrest – the Caliph would surely have their heads.  
  
"Naruto."  
  
The worry clearly translated into his voice, because the boy sobered instantly.  
  
"We have to get out of here."  
  
"So, we can go back home?" Naruto looked so hopeful.  
  
"No, we have to leave this city. What you've done...what I let you do...we're in big trouble, Naruto."  
  
With a slowly dawning look of understanding, the boy looked down, biting his lower lip. He had grown up in this city, he couldn't just leave it. Sure, its citizens were mean to him for no real reason and he lived in a house that could pass for a cardboard box. Yet, he couldn't just leave. It was his home. And he had ruined his chances of staying there. With growing comprehension, Naruto realized it was all his fault and he had made Iruka suffer as well. Iruka didn't deserve that.  
  
"Otoosan. I'm sor..."  
  
But Naruto was never able to finish his sentence for four more guards had already surrounded them in stealth and had sent them both to the ground with nets wrapped around their legs.  
  
The last thing Naruto saw before he blacked out was a fist with the mark of the third Caliph indented on one white knuckle.  
  
..................................  
  
"Ungh....Ramen...so good..."  
  
"Oh, the prisoner is awake, Zabuza-sama."  
  
"Chichi-ue ... ungh...help...so hot..."  
  
"Haku, can't you make that kid shut up?"  
  
"Yes, Zabuza-sama."  
  
ssst...ssst  
  
"......"  
  
"That's better."  
  
................................  
  
Two blue orbs peeked out behind slowly opening eyelids. Their gaze shifted from left to right taking in the unfamiliar surroundings, leaving the boy to whom they belonged in slight confusion.  
  
Where am I?  
  
He was on his back that much was certain, for when he stared straight ahead he saw the sky through thin wooden bars. These same bars surrounded him on all sides, making him feel like a caged animal. The landscape beyond those bars was barren and covered in sand and rock, he had never seen such an expanse of desert land before. Not only was this unusual, but he could swear it was moving. No, he was moving. The ground beneath him was vibrating and rumbling as though resting on old wooden wheels.  
  
He could hear faint voices up ahead along with the occasional moan of a cart animal.  
  
Where's Iruka-Otoosan?  
  
The young blonde tried to sit up, but was instantly greeted with a searing pain in his neck. Reaching up with his right hand, he felt a thin needle like instrument embedded in his neck, the same was on the opposite side. Too lethargic to be alarmed by this discovery, Naruto began to notice the dry heat which engulfed him, lulling him into a dazed stupor.  
  
Maybe I should just go to sleep now. I'm too tired to figure this out.  
  
Taking one last look at the sky with its perfectly centered sun shining directly on his face, the boy passed out.  
  
"Hey kid."  
  
Ouch. Wha..?  
  
"Wake up, kid."  
  
slap  
  
"Owowowowowowow!"  
  
Naruto sat up quickly yet again greeted by the same sharp pain in his neck and a new dull stinging pain on his cheek. It took him a while for his eyes to adjust to the harsh brightness, but when they did he was looking into the face of a devil, or someone like one.  
  
"Aaaargh!"  
  
The devil-man just laughed behind his mask of bandages. "Man, Haku, this kid is entertaining! It isn't every day we get a prisoner with such spunk."  
  
The devil-man moved aside to reveal what looked to be a very pretty young girl in a purple balaclava which did not hide her face. Naruto blushed. He hadn't had much experience with girls before.  
  
"He is very young, Zabuza-sama."  
  
For some reason, this made Naruto scowl. I'm not that young!  
  
"Yeah he is. He must have done something particularly naughty, eh Haku?"  
  
The girl presumably named Haku just smiled politely.  
  
"Ano...Ano...where am I?" Naruto sat up in his little wooden cage and attempted to pull the needles out of his neck.  
  
"Please let me." The girl said and she proceeded to pull them out deftly.  
  
"You, my little friend, have been sold into slavery. As is dictated by the devshirme tax by the Sultan, may Allah bless him, himself." The devil-man called Zabuza declared, with a happy glint in his eye.  
  
Naruto stood up abruptly, hitting his head on the barred ceiling of his cage. "Wha..What? Wait...where is my father?"  
  
Zabuza let out a loud breath that almost sounded like a growl. "This kid sure asks a lot of questions! Typical of Christians, they never know their place, right Haku?"  
  
The woman smiled again, "Yes sir."  
  
"Wait? What are you talking about? I can't be a slave! I didn't do anything!"  
  
Zabuza just smirked. "Oh? So you weren't the one who vandalized the third Caliph's palace walls with pictures of nude women?"  
  
"I..." Naruto paused in frustration at being caught. "I didn't vandalize it! It was a mural! My tribute to the third Caliph!"  
  
"Right...and Haku is a woman." Zabuza sneered.  
  
It took Naruto a while for that comment to sink in as he stared blankly at the devil-man. "Waitaminnit...that girl right there," Naruto pointed at 'her', "Isn't a girl?"  
  
Zabuza just laughed. "Kid, you're too much."  
  
Before Naruto could retort, Zabuza cuffed him on the head, almost lightly - almost. "Listen kid, I'll explain your situation to you only because I like you, got it?"  
  
Naruto just nodded.  
  
"You are a Christian boy of the great Ottoman Empire, Allah praise it, and you have just committed an egregious crime. Therefore, you have been ordered by the Third Caliph of your city, Allah bless him, into slavery in the service of our highest leader, the great Sultan, Allah be with him. From now on, you will be his tool boy. Say hello to the life of a Kul (1)."  
  
AN: (1) A kul is a Christian slave of the Ottoman Empire. They consisted of young Christian boys, aged around fifteen years old, from outlying areas of the Empire. These boys were generally given to the Sultan as a tax (devshirme) on Christians living within the Empire, but for this story's purposes, I've decided to make this a punishment for Naruto's crime. It fits better with his character, ne?  
  
Chichi-ue and Otoosan both mean father in Japanese. The latter is more formal.  
  
Anywho, this whole kul thing really is perfect for the Naruto characters, because kuls weren't really like slaves in the modern sense of the term. Kuls were generally bound to the Sultan and were unpaid, but they were trained in the art of war to act as the Sultan's army. Many of these kuls could later gain power by marrying into the Sultan's family through one of his many, many daughters (he had multiple wives). Eventually, many kuls have become incredibly powerful in the political life of the Ottoman Empire. Thus, if you are astute, you may be able to see where I'm going with this story...it really is perfect isn't it?  
  
If you are even more astute you may be asking, 'but wait, how can this be a Sasunaru fic if kuls gain power through marrying the Sultan's daughters?' Well, you'll find out...  
  
Hopefully this story will turn out as great as it seems in my head...hehe. 


	3. Say Hello to Your New Teammates

AN: I do not own Naruto...I didn't steal it either. I am not a crook!  
  
Thank you very much to all that have reviewed! It means a lot to me!!!  
  
Some of you who have reviewed speculated that Sasuke would be the Sultan's son and that Naruto would be his slave, and I fear that it was I who had led you to think this. Sadly, this is not the case. The plot is a bit more complicated than that...as you will find out soon enough.  
  
Well...on with the next chapter then!  
...........................................  
  
Chapter 2  
Say Hello to Your New Teammates  
  
thup...thup...thup...thup  
  
"Nngh."  
  
Naruto tiredly pushed away the cause of the offending wetness on his cheek, but decided not to open his eyes.  
  
His hope that yesterday was a bad dream was slowly diminishing, but he didn't have the heart to confirm it. His mind wandered to memories of the day before.  
  
After the revealing conversation with his two captors, Naruto had been practically shoveled out of his cage, the one named Haku immediately tying a thick rope to Naruto's ankles and wrists. His hands were tied behind his back and he was pulled along by another rope around his neck. Then Zabuza led the way past the huge wooden gates and into an even more enormous city.  
  
...............flashback..............  
  
"Ouch! Don't pull so hard!"  
  
"I'll pull you as hard as I like. In fact, I'd like to pull you harder!" Zabuza yelled back at Naruto and then unceremoniously tugged the boy forward so hard he fell on his face.  
  
"Bastard!"  
  
"Stop complaining, kul!"  
  
"...."  
  
"That's right. I'm glad you finally know your place." Zabuza smirked back at him, showing a row of jagged pointed teeth.  
  
"eyaggh! Your teeth...they're..."  
  
"All the better to eat you, boy!"  
  
Naruto stopped in his tracks and made a face, which caused him to fall over again when Zabuza did not stop as well.  
  
"This is not the time or place to take a nap, kul!"  
  
"Ooooh...you...are...such...a...bastard!" Naruto called back, picking himself off the sandy street as he did so.  
  
"And YOU are the master of redundancy!"  
  
"Wha...?"  
  
"Never mind." Zabuza switched his gaze to Haku, looking back over his shoulder as he continued to walk. "These Christian boys really are stupid, eh Haku? No education."  
  
"I'm not stupid!"  
  
"Of course you aren't." Zabuza retorted sarcastically and gave the rope a stronger tug for good measure.  
  
But this time, instead of falling on his face, Naruto leaped forward with the tug and landed on his feet.  
  
"Ah, he learns!"  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"Make me! Oh wait, you can't, you're a kul and right now, I'm your master!"  
  
"YOU...!" Naruto yelled, cracking his knuckles and looking ready to start a fight.  
  
"Zabuza-sama, we are here."  
  
Both Zabuza and Naruto looked back at Haku, and for the first time, noticed their surroundings.  
  
Wow, that kid is such a distraction. "Oh I see, good Haku!" Zabuza said a little too casually.  
  
Naruto, who hadn't even noticed that they had walked so far into the enormous, unfamiliar city, was struck with awe. All around him, a marketplace was bustling with all kinds of spices, rugs, meat, silks, and other types of commodities. He was so absorbed in his argument with that Zabuza guy that he even failed to notice how crowded the street was. Not only that, but from the women he could see, he was surprised to notice that they were not completely covered like those in his old village. They seemed to be better off economically and were adorned in silk tops and pants with little to no midriff coverings and their faces were covered with the same silk as well (1). For a boy who didn't have much experience around the fairer sex, this felt like overkill.  
  
"Hey kid, quit ogling, you're due for a very important date!" Zabuza tugged on the rope from behind hoping to make the kid fall backwards.  
  
Instead, Naruto felt the tug and performed a back flip in order to not fall.  
  
Hm...this kid is almost good. "C'mon kid. We're going inside."  
  
"Inside wha...? Oh."  
  
Naruto watched in amazement as Zabuza stuck a hand straight into a very big wall and pulled out a large clump of sand. Immediately the same sand reformed itself into what looked like a key.  
  
"Whoa!"  
  
"You ain't seen nothing yet, kid. Haku!"  
  
"Yes sir." Haku stepped up as Zabuza pulled Naruto out of the way and threw two handfuls of medicinal darts at the wall. The darts all landed, creating a picture of what Naruto recognized to be a spiral leaf, the symbol of his old village. As he watched, the wall imbedded with the needles began to crumble and turn into sand, sliding past the needles and into the ground, revealing a large door where the wall once stood.  
  
Naruto could only hold his mouth open in shock.  
  
Zabuza then stepped up to the door and stuck the sand key into the door's lock, clicking it open.  
  
"After you, kid."  
  
Feeling his legs go slightly weak, Naruto stepped passed Zabuza and into a cavernous room adorned with monuments of sand.  
  
"What is this?"  
  
"This, my little kul, is the back entrance to the Sultan's palace, Allah protect it." Zabuza paused as though thinking. "Come this way then."  
  
Naruto followed Zabuza through many cavernous rooms, Haku trailing behind, until they reached a hallway with a smaller door at the end.  
  
Zabuza pointed at the door. "You must go through that door and check in with the official guards. This is where I leave you." He turned around and began to walk back the way he'd come. "It's been a pleasure kid." He paused. "Oh yeah, don't even think about trying to escape! These walls can see you." And with that, he passed through into the cavernous room from which he'd come and the doorway turned itself into sand, effectively reforming into a hard wall.  
  
"The walls can see me?" Naruto asked himself quietly, staring suspiciously at the walls surrounding him.  
  
Extricating himself from the ropes attached to his limbs and neck, Naruto huffed and made his way to the door at the end of the hall. "Hello?" Naruto stepped into a room with very little light and no sign of guards anywhere. "Hello?"  
  
Making an annoyed grimace, Naruto walked all the way into the middle of the room right in front of a desk, the only piece of furniture. Suddenly, he felt the floor drop out from under him. He just had enough time to see that it, too, had turned into sand and was pulling him in.  
  
"Aaaaaaaagh!"  
  
Struggling obviously didn't help, because the sand only pulled him in faster. Had Zabuza told him the truth about his destiny as a kul? Or was this really just a ploy to put him to death?  
  
Before Naruto could even begin to answer all of these frantic questions, the sand suddenly engulfed his entire form and pulled him under.  
  
What happened next was completely unexpected. Instead of being buried deeper into the earth, Naruto was flung through a slippery tunnel on the other side and sent sliding through it like a ball in a chute.  
  
"Aaaaaaaaaaghhh!!!" CRASH!  
  
"Ow!"  
  
"Oh, we've got another one."  
  
Dazedly, Naruto shook his head and got up, opening his eyes to see he was now standing in the middle of a large room with benches lining the walls accommodating a great mass of people. They were all staring at him and he was about to tell them to stop when someone yelled at him from his right.  
  
"Come here to get registered, kul!"  
  
Naruto swung his head around to see the owner of the voice sitting behind an ornate mahogany desk at the front of the room.  
  
"Don't keep me waiting!"  
  
Cursing his confusion, Naruto jogged up to the desk and stared at the skinny old man, dressed all in black.  
  
"Alright. Name?"  
  
"Erm...Uzumaki Naruto."  
  
Naruto was too distracted to notice when one of the men on the benches perked up at hearing his name.  
  
"Village of birth?"  
  
"Leaf village."  
  
The old man finished carving Naruto's answer into a sand tablet and held out his hand. "Your hand, please."  
  
"Er..." Confused, Naruto put out his hand, which was unceremoniously slammed into the hard wood of the desk with a burning piece of steel at the end of a stick.  
  
"Ow!" Naruto pulled his hand away and stared at the damage. There was now the perfect image of the leaf symbol burned into the top of his hand. He stared at it in wonder, forgetting the pain.  
  
"You're done. Go wait on the benches for further instructions." The man recited, bored. "Next!"  
  
Naruto turned around and was just about to sit down, still staring at the wound on his hand which was already beginning to scar, when he was interrupted by a very familiar voice.  
  
"Naruto?!"  
  
Naruto stared at the source, he couldn't believe it. "Chichi-ue!"  
  
Iruka smiled back at him in his usual polite way and was soon engulfed by the arms of a very strong boy.  
  
"Ouch...not too tight Naruto, that hurts!"  
  
Naruto chuckled nervously and relinquished his grip. "Sorry."  
  
"How did you get here?" Iruka asked, scooting over to give room for Naruto on the bench.  
  
"I was taken in by two very strange...er...guys." Then Naruto proceeded to tell him all that had happened to him since they had parted.  
  
"Hm...that sounds very similar to my experience." Iruka smiled thoughtfully as if at a memory. "That quicksand was ingenious wasn't it?"  
  
"Yeah, it was." Naruto grinned widely, showing off all his teeth. "But it didn't scare me!"  
  
"I'm sure."  
  
"Hey! Were you being sarcastic?"  
  
Iruka just smiled and changed the subject, turning serious. "Naruto, I'm not sure we'll be able to see each other again for a while."  
  
"What? Why?"  
  
"This is just a hunch, but I think that after we register, we will all be put into separate living quarters and grouped with others closer to our age. At least, that is how I've heard the kul training camps are operated."  
  
Naruto went silent for a bit, eyes turning sad. "I don't want to be separated from you."  
  
"Neither do I, but I think we will have to be."  
  
Naruto just stared at his sad smile, not knowing what to say. He had only just been reunited with his father, they couldn't take him away again. It wasn't right! Yet, knowing how his life always turned out, Naruto knew that it was probably the most inevitable action.  
  
"Hmmph."  
  
Suddenly the wall behind them, which Naruto had been carelessly resting against, softened and receded into the ground as sand. Naruto struggled to stay upright, but was unsuccessful and fell backwards onto his head.  
  
"This whole wall turning into sand thing is getting a little old." Naruto muttered and looked up to see Iruka nodding in agreement.  
  
"We will now take you kuls to your living quarters!" A voice boomed behind Naruto, making him look behind him and see the newcomers upside down, standing in a previously hidden courtyard. "Please wait for your name to be called indicating the General you will be following!"  
  
The guard, again all in black, pulled a tablet out of a vest pocket and read off the list.  
  
"Rock Lee, Aburame Shino, and Hyuuga Neji. You are assigned to General Maito Gai."  
  
The three boys got up from benches across from Naruto and made their way to the guard who pointed them to their General, a thick-browed man with an ugly bowl haircut.  
  
"Inuzuka Kiba, Nara Shikamaru, Akamichi Chouji, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke. You are assigned to General Hatake Kakashi."  
  
Naruto looked around to see all of the others who were called stand up and make their way to the guard. Iruka-ojiisan was right. They were all around his age. With one look back at his father, who smiled back at him encouragingly, Naruto got up sullenly and followed the other boys.  
  
The black clad guard pointed them to a man with a mass of silver hair that dared to defy gravity and won, leaning casually against a column of sand. The guard continued with the rest of the list, as the man eloquently introduced himself.  
  
"Yo."  
  
The boys just stared back at him, one with raven black hair and brooding eyes glaring particularly coldly.  
  
"Well, you all look tired. Follow me."  
  
It was strange, but Naruto felt too fatigued to ask any stupid questions or make any comments and just followed the others, dragging his feet. Yet, he did hear a slight mumbled, "This is tiresome." Come from the boy with the ponytail beside him.  
  
They weaved through what looked like a very complicated sand maze before they reached what looked like a pueblo carved out of a large sand dune.  
  
"This is where you will live. There are mats and blankets in there, that's all you will need." Almost lazily, the General called Kakashi began to walk away into the sunset, holding up his hand in goodbye. "Training starts tomorrow at the rise of the sun, I'll see you in the courtyard."  
  
When he was out of sight, the boys just stared at each other for a moment, their obvious fatigue showing for the first time, and made their way into the pueblo.  
  
Naruto was so tired he only had to claim a mat for his own before he fell into a deep slumber.  
  
............end of flashback............  
  
Again, Naruto groaned at the feeling of a wet tongue lapping at his cheek.  
  
"Hey! Wake up fool, it's time for training!"  
  
Naruto opened his eyes to glare at the boy who had forced him to acknowledge the reality of his situation. The boy just glared right back at him, with two red upside down triangles on each cheek and slits for pupils, as he stood over Naruto.  
  
"Get up, you lazy dog!"  
  
"Arf! Arf!"  
  
Naruto jumped up in alarm at the loud barks close to his right ear. "Ow!"  
  
"Is this your dog?" Naruto scowled up at the dog-boy.  
  
"Akamaru is not a dog, he is a warrior!" The boy said indignantly as the dog jumped into his arms.  
  
"Is that so?!" Naruto got up. "Looks like a dog to me!"  
  
"Why you little..."  
  
"Calm down, idiots."  
  
Both boys turned at once towards the source of the new voice. This boy was perched on the window ledge and didn't even pretend to care about them, staring out the paneless window. Naruto recognized him as the same black haired boy who glared at General Kakashi the day before.  
  
"Hey! Don't call me an idiot!" Naruto retorted, stepping up right next to the cold boy.  
  
"Why not? Idiot."  
  
"You!"  
  
Naruto tried to punch him off the ledge, but the boy was too fast, blocking the attack and kicking Naruto in the gut with his free leg. Naruto was sent flying back towards the opposite wall, hitting his back hard.  
  
Naruto shook his head and got up slowly, glaring at the boy as he glared coldly back. "What's your problem, Jerk?!"  
  
The boy just glared coldly for a bit longer, before he switched his gaze out the window again.  
  
"Hey, don't ignore me!" Naruto yelled and barreled at the boy again. He put out his fist and could have sworn he was just about to connect when he was grabbed around the waste and pulled back to the ground.  
  
When he looked up, he was staring at the face of yet another boy.  
  
"Wha...?"  
  
"Geez, you are tiresome. You shouldn't even try to attack him, he's an Uchiha."  
  
Naruto sat up in confusion. "A what?"  
  
The boy just rolled his eyes. "Man, you are annoying. An Uchiha. That guy is the last remaining member of the Uchiha clan, a powerful and respected family of warriors."  
  
"If his family is so powerful, what is he doing here then?" Naruto asked gruffly, standing up with the other boy's help.  
  
"I don't know. No one I've talked to seems to know either."  
  
Naruto squinted at the cold boy still perched on window, looking for all the world like he hadn't noticed their conversation about him. There was something about that boy that made Naruto feel really creeped out and saddened all at once. The feeling was hard to describe and incredibly confusing, so Naruto gave up on thinking about it.  
  
"My name is Shikamaru, by the way."  
  
Naruto looked over at the boy called Shikamaru and took his hand in a shake. "I'm Naruto."  
  
"And that's Kiba with his dog Akamaru." Shikamaru said, indicating the dog- boy and his pet.  
  
Naruto just glared at him, which was returned in kind.  
  
"And that," Shikamaru interrupted, before the glares could lead to a fight again. "Is Choji."  
  
Naruto looked where Shikamaru was pointing and almost jumped. He hadn't even noticed the pudgy boy sitting in the corner before and that was really unfortunate because the boy was making a lot of noise while wrestling to open some wrapped beef slices.  
  
Choji stopped his activity long enough to nod at Naruto before going back to it.  
  
Kiba just scowled. "Stop stuffing your face, fatty. You won't be able to train on such a full stomach!"  
  
Choji stopped wrestling with the bag altogether and looked at Shikamaru. "What'd he say?"  
  
"Uh oh." Shikamaru winced. "You shouldn't have said that, Kiba."  
  
Kiba opened his mouth to say something when Choji literally grew into a huge ball that took up the entire pueblo.  
  
"Aaagh! Shikamaru, what's he doing? We're all going to get squished!" Naruto yelled his back against a wall as the fat boy's flesh pushed against him with ever more pressure.  
  
"This is his special attack!" Was the muffled reply from somewhere on the other side.  
  
Naruto could hear Kiba struggling against the mass. "Damnit!"  
  
BOOM!  
  
Not able to take the strain of the growing boy within, the pueblo walls cracked open and the roof came straight down on Choji and the others, except for Sasuke who had jumped out the window during the initial confrontation.  
  
"Ugh!" Naruto was the first to push out from under the rubble and extricate himself. Shikamaru and Kiba followed close behind.  
  
"What was that?!" Kiba exclaimed, irritated.  
  
"I told you, you shouldn't have said that." Was Shikamaru's curt reply.  
  
"It wasn't my fault! He was the one who blew up our shack!"  
  
"Pueblo."  
  
"Whatever!"  
  
Naruto was beginning to think that Choji had died when he finally saw a hand snake its way to the top of the heap of rubble. Soon after, Choji appeared miraculously unscathed.  
  
"Sorry about that."  
  
They all just stared at him.  
  
Naruto turned his gaze behind him.  
  
"Hey, where were you during all of this?"  
  
The Uchiha boy just stared at them all with a slightly patronizing bland expression.  
  
"Idiots."  
  
AN: (1) Women in Muslim cities probably did not wear these types of things when going out to the market in public, but I didn't think it would be fun without this scene. So I bent a few rules. Daughters of the Sultan probably wore this type of dress because they were kept in isolation within the palace walls for most of the time.  
  
In the next chapter, the fun continues and Naruto meets more characters all around. Time for Sakura-chan and Ino to show up along with Gaara and Temari. Yay. 


	4. This is Troublesome

AN: I don't own Naruto....sob!  
  
Chapter 3  
This is Troublesome  
  
"Man, this is bad." Kiba groaned, leaning against a sand pillar in the courtyard.  
  
"It's irritating, more like."  
  
"Where is that Kakashi guy?"  
  
"I'm hungry."  
  
"But you just ate an entire bag of pork-bites on the way here. Fat-a...I mean..."  
  
Shikamaru sighed, looking over at Kiba's horrified face. "Again, you really shouldn't have said that."  
  
Naruto, who was beginning to feel a little impatient, watched Choji's eyes light up in flames from across the courtyard. Before he could blow himself up again this time, however, Shikamaru came between that bastard Kiba and Choji making a placating gesture. Naruto slumped in relief when Choji relaxed his stance.  
  
It was hot and the sun was climbing higher in the sky. "Where is that General Kakashi guy anyway?!"  
  
Naruto had mumbled it to himself, but he heard a slight grunt of, was that agreement?, behind him. Turning around to look at the source, Naruto saw that it was only that black haired jerk, leaning against a low sand wall and staring off in the distance.  
  
Naruto was really beginning to feel irritated with that guy. He always acted so cool and haughty, and whenever their eyes locked Naruto could feel a definite cool disdain. Bastard. He was just like everyone back in Leaf village. He clearly disliked Naruto for no good reason.  
  
Naruto huffed and walked a little out into the middle of the courtyard. "Hey! Shikamaru!"  
  
Shikamaru, who had been talking to Choji, whipped his head around to face Naruto. "What?"  
  
"Why'd you insist on coming at the break of dawn when our General isn't even here yet?"  
  
"How'd I know that Kakashi guy would be late?!"  
  
Naruto was just about to retort when he heard giggles coming from one of the hallway arches to the courtyard.  
  
"Ooh! That one is cute!"  
  
"And handsome too."  
  
All the boys watched as two very done-up girls walked out into the sun towards the middle of the courtyard. One had long, braided, blonde hair with sky blue eyes and wore a short light blue top that ended right below her chest with the same color silk pants. The other had short pink hair with light green eyes and wore a light green top and pants of the same design. Naruto felt his face heat as the latter looked his way.  
  
"What is your name?" Her cheeks were pink as well.  
  
Thinking this was too good to be true, and that should have been his first clue, Naruto stepped forward and said, "My name's Naruto."  
  
Suddenly, she made a face. "No, not you! Him!" She pointed past his right shoulder at the brooding jerk behind him. "The handsome one with the mysterious eyes."  
  
Both girls swooned and Naruto thought he would be sick.  
  
The jerk just looked back at the two girls coldly, who didn't seem to notice in the least. Before Naruto could blink, both girls were surrounding the jerk on both sides.  
  
"Tell me handsome kapikulli(1), what is your name?" The blonde breathed into the jerk's ear.  
  
The pink haired girl had already latched herself onto his other arm, red in the face.  
  
Naruto watched in amazement as the jerk sighed, as though all of this attention was a great bother, and muttered, "Uchiha Sasuke."  
  
"Oooh!" Both the girls squealed. "Sasuke-kun!"  
  
"I am called Sultana(2) Ino!" Breathed the blonde.  
  
"I'm Sultana Sakura." The pink one mumbled nervously.  
  
By now, the other boys had come closer and were grouped behind Naruto watching the spectacle.  
  
"Figures the asshole would get all the chicks." Kiba muttered, and for once Naruto agreed with him.  
  
The jerk called Sasuke began to look even more irritated if that was possible and Naruto almost had to chuckle at his fate. But then, the jerk looked straight at Naruto and for a single moment, the coolness was gone and replaced by a pleading look. By the time Naruto got over his surprise, however, the jerk had looked away and was now struggling to extricate himself from the two Sultanas.  
  
"Hey, get off of him!" Naruto yelled, not really understanding why, and ran towards them, pulling the girls off of the dark haired boy.  
  
"Hey!" The blonde Sultana screeched. "Do you know who I am?"  
  
Before Naruto could answer with an angry reply, the boy in his arms – for Naruto had forgotten to let go of the other boy's shoulders once he had pushed the girls off – had replied for him.  
  
"You're annoying."  
  
The girl, who had only seconds ago looked full of confidence, crumpled under Sasuke's gaze. "Oh..."  
  
Naruto felt slightly guilty as the blonde was comforted by her companion.  
  
"Hey asshole! Don't be so mean to girls." Kiba chastised, punching Naruto hard in the back.  
  
"I didn't mmmph!"  
  
In the most embarrassing event Naruto had ever been a part of, and that was saying something, he now found that his lips were locked with the black haired jerk's and his stomach was performing unnecessary flips.  
  
Everyone went silent around the two for what seemed like an eternity, before they both broke it off and spat on the ground in disgust.  
  
"Yuck!"  
  
"Bastard!" Sasuke exclaimed at the Blonde boy, who had fallen on the ground in shock.  
  
"Noooooo!" Both girls squealed in horror.  
  
"Was that your first kiss?" The sultana named Sakura asked worriedly.  
  
Sasuke just looked away.  
  
"Oh no, it was!" The other one named Ino squealed.  
  
Naruto finally got up from the ground, looking wearily at the two angry Sultanas.  
  
"Man, Naruto." Shikamaru said seriously, "I didn't know you swung that way."  
  
"Who'd have guessed?" Kiba shrugged conversationally.  
  
Naruto grimaced. "Jerk! You're the one who started it! You practically pushed me into him!"  
  
Ignoring the angry boy, Shikamaru asked, "Hey Sasuke, was that really your first kiss?"  
  
The young Uchiha just glared at him.  
  
Naruto was about to punch Shikamaru on the head from behind and then maybe start bashing that bastard Kiba, but a new voice rang out into the courtyard.  
  
"Ino, Sakura-chan, what are you doing?"  
  
Both Sultanas quit their glaring at Naruto and swung around towards the older girl making her way towards them. This girl was blonde as well, but the color was darker and her hair was pulled up into two messy pigtails on either side of her head. She had dark brown eyes and was dressed in all white with a large fan carried by a holster on her back.  
  
Both Sultanas stiffened slightly.  
  
"What are you two doing out mingling with slaves?" The older girl asked a little harshly, looking out at all the boys staring back at her.  
  
"Onee-san, uh...we were just...um." Sakura stuttered.  
  
"Well, you see...onee-san." Ino tried to continue.  
  
The older girl's gaze fell on Sasuke and her cheeks pinkened slightly. "Who is that?"  
  
Gross! Not her too! Naruto thought in slight disappointment.  
  
"That's enough."  
  
The older girl looked behind her at an older boy with red hair and dark- rimmed eyes, standing just inside an arch.  
  
"Onii-san..."  
  
"Temari." The boy said, looking strangely cryptic with that huge jug on his back. "Mother wishes to see you." He turned his gaze to the two younger girls. "Your mothers wish to see you as well."  
  
All three girls nodded and without another word, they all followed the creepy, red haired boy back into the building.  
  
"What a bunch of royal weirdos!" Kiba exclaimed, petting Akamaru who was perched within his shirt.  
  
"They were more than weirdos." Shikamaru commented shrewdly. "The older girl and the boy looked very skilled in fighting."  
  
"Hmm...yes, we should be careful not to get on their bad side." Kiba muttered.  
  
Naruto just huffed. "Well, strong or not, I'm not scared. I could beat them easy."  
  
"Oh really?" Shikamaru asked, unbelieving.  
  
"Of course I can! I'm going to become stronger too, strong enough to be the next Caliph!" Naruto crossed his arms and smiled in what he hoped was a winning pose.  
  
"You? A Caliph? Don't make me laugh!" Kiba chuckled.  
  
"What?" Naruto glared at him.  
  
"Well, for one thing, you're a Christian kul, so you can never become higher than a bureaucrat and for another, you're incredibly weak!" Kiba smirked.  
  
"No I'm not!"  
  
"Yes, you are!"  
  
"Am not!"  
  
"Are too!"  
  
"Am not!"  
  
"Shut up you two! I'm getting a headache." Shikamaru said, rubbing his temples.  
  
Suddenly, Sasuke jumped down from his recent perch on the low sand wall and walked passed them all to stand in the middle of the courtyard.  
  
"Hey, where are you going?" Naruto called out to him.  
  
Sasuke looked back at him over his shoulder. "Our General is here."  
  
"Wha...? Where?"  
  
From out of nowhere, General Kakashi dropped from a nearby roof and landed right in front of Sasuke.  
  
"How did you know?" Kakashi asked when he stood up.  
  
Sasuke smiled, the first smile Naruto had ever seen the boy give, and replied, "I've felt your presence since the arrival of those two Sultanas."  
  
Kakashi smiled, "Hm, good."  
  
Everyone else, including Naruto, had dropped their mouths open in shock.  
  
"Wait! You've been here for that long?!" Naruto asked, exasperated. "And you knew about it?" He pointed indignantly at Sasuke.  
  
Sasuke just smirked back at him.  
  
"But why?"  
  
This time, Sasuke turned his head back towards the General, wanting to know the answer as well.  
  
Kakashi smiled. "It was the perfect opportunity to observe my new students."  
  
Shikamaru stepped forward. "But if it is true that you came when the two Sultanas did, you were still incredibly late."  
  
This time, Kakashi had the dignity to look a little uncomfortable. "Yes well, I had to do some errands for a cute girl in the Bazaar(3)."  
  
"Liar!" Naruto yelled and the rest of the boys nodded in agreement.  
  
"We've got ourselves a procrastinator for a General." Kiba muttered and both Choji and Shikamaru snorted.  
  
"So, did you all sleep well?" Kakashi asked, suspiciously like he was trying to change the subject.  
  
All the boys looked uncomfortable at this question because it brought back memories of just what had happened to their house that morning.  
  
"Er..." Naruto started. "Well, I slept well."  
  
"Yes, so did I." Said Shikamaru, diplomatically.  
  
"Well, I did too, but then Choji had to blow up our shack!" Kiba said, completely oblivious to the situation.  
  
"Pueblo." Shikamaru muttered.  
  
"Whatever!"  
  
"Hey!" Choji yelled back at Kiba. "It was your fault in the first place!"  
  
"How was it my fault when you were the one who became as big as a trading barge inside of a house the size of a fishing boat?!"  
  
"It couldn't be helped, asshole! You called me a...a..."  
  
"Wait, I don't understand." Kakashi interrupted, looking a bit disturbed. "You kuls blew up your own pueblo?"  
  
"No, Choji did!" Kiba answered.  
  
Kakashi glanced at Sasuke to see if he had any input, but Sasuke just rolled his eyes.  
  
"How bad is the damage?"  
  
This time Naruto answered. "Er...everything. Um...the walls broke under the pressure and the roof collapsed."  
  
Kakashi let out a breath. These kuls were turning out to be more trouble than he initially gave them credit for. "Well then after training, you all will have to camp out in the desert tonight."  
  
"In the desert?!" Naruto looked skeptical.  
  
"Think of this as just another way to train. Survival Training." Kakashi smiled again.  
  
"Survival Training?" Naruto muttered, looking confused.  
  
"Just make sure not to get eaten by scorpions and other dangerous creatures and you will become stronger, eh?"  
  
All the boys looked at each other worriedly, except for Sasuke who looked unemotional as always.  
  
"Okay!" Naruto put his fist into the air as though starting off a race. "I'm ready for it!"  
  
All the other boys looked at him in shock and even Sasuke's mouth had turned up a bit at the corners.  
  
This Naruto is a strange kid, Kakashi smiled to himself, he will be good for the team's morale.  
  
"First, you must be divided into smaller teams. It is difficult to work as a cohesive unit when you train with so many." Kakashi pulled out a scroll and opened it. Five medicinal needles, two short and three long, fell out onto the ground. Kakashi picked them up and splayed them in his hand so that they all looked the same length. "Each of you must pick a needle and the lengths will tell you who you're teamed with. There are an odd number of you so one team will be of three and the other of just two."  
  
Naruto came up first and pulled out a needle. Then Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji, and last, Sasuke chose theirs.  
  
"Oh no!" Naruto complained. "I can't be teamed up with that Sasuke jerk!"  
  
"Too bad, idiot. It's not like I'm enjoying this either."  
  
Kakashi watched in amusement at the two bickering boys. Kakashi noticed that they seemed to harbor the most hatred for each other out of all the boys early on, but that accidental kiss earlier must have made the relationship even more awkward. The two even looked like polar opposites, one dark haired and pale skinned, the other light haired and tan skinned. It was good that they were teammates now so that they could work out these differences. It wouldn't do to have incompatible warriors failing to work together in the heat of battle.  
  
"I can't be with that asshole!" Choji exclaimed, pointing a pudgy finger at Kiba.  
  
"Well, I can't work with that fat-ass!"  
  
"Why you!"  
  
"Man, this is irritating."  
  
"Alright, I have decided."  
  
All of the boys quit their bickering to listen to Kakashi.  
  
"You three." Kakashi pointed at Kiba, Choji, and Shikamaru. "Will be reassigned under General Sarutobi Asuma for the rest of your training."  
  
Kakashi turned his head indicating the man now walking towards the group from the archway. Unlike Kakashi, this man's hair did not stick up and his face was not covered. He had black hair and a darker complexion with a cigarette sticking out between his lips.  
  
"Watch out Asuma," Kakashi muttered when the man stopped beside him. "These three are troublemakers. They've already blown up their pueblo."  
  
"Really?" Asuma let his mouth open a bit, but the cigarette still stuck to his bottom lip. "So soon? Usually that takes the kuls at least a week."  
  
Kakashi just smiled, well at least it looked like he was smiling by the look of his one visible eye.  
  
"Hear that, Choji?" Shikamaru patted him on the back. "We're faster than the others."  
  
Choji nodded, looking pleased with himself.  
  
Kiba just grunted and looked away.  
  
"Okay kuls, come with me." Asuma beckoned them to follow and Kiba, Choji, and Shikamaru walked after him.  
  
"Good luck!" Naruto called after them.  
  
Shikamaru raised a hand to acknowledge the words with his back still turned. Then they were gone.  
  
"Now," Kakashi started. "It is time for you two to fight. Show me all you've got."  
  
Naruto looked at Kakashi and then at Sasuke who was glaring coldly back at him. Was he serious?  
  
"Scared, idiot?"  
  
Now that got to him. "Shut up, Jerk!"  
  
Naruto ran at his rival going in for a punch, but right as his fist was about to connect with Sasuke's face, the jerk was gone in a flash.  
  
"Too slow."  
  
Naruto almost jumped at the low voice in his left ear from behind, before he was kicked in the back and sent flying forward.  
  
"Ungh!"  
  
Naruto tried to get to his feet, but a hard weight on his back sent him right back down into the ground again. Struggling to see what was going on, Naruto rolled over only to see the jerk looking straight back down at him while straddling his waist. For some reason, Naruto felt his cheeks heat and he noticed a surprised look pass across his captor's face.  
  
"An opening!"  
  
Naruto freed his right hand and plunged his fist into the other boy's gut, sending him flying across the courtyard.  
  
Naruto got up and ran after the falling boy going in for another kick to his stomach, but he wasn't fast enough. Noticing the incoming attack, Sasuke turned his body in midair and flipped in the opposite direction right over Naruto.  
  
Before Naruto could respond, it was too late. A heal kick landed on his back in the same spot as before, knocking him face first into the hard ground.  
  
"Argh!"  
  
Naruto lay there for a while, trying to catch his breath. The jerk was good. Of course, he had probably been trained before, being from that warrior family. Naruto had never been trained. This was obviously an unequal match, even to Naruto. But he would be damned if he would lose to that jerk.  
  
"It's over." Sasuke said, looking at Kakashi.  
  
But Kakashi knew that the boy's confidence was misplaced. For the blonde haired boy was already picking himself off the ground. What stamina!  
  
"What's over, Jerk?"  
  
Sasuke whirled around and was surprised to see the idiot standing again with blood trailing from his mouth and a wound on his left temple.  
  
"I won't lose to you!"  
  
Sasuke readied himself as Naruto ran towards him again. Idiot, trying to use the same attack.  
  
But right when the blonde made it within punching range, he jumped up over Sasuke and flipped in midair, clipping Sasuke with his right foot on the side of his head. Disoriented by the side attack, Sasuke couldn't react fast enough to protect himself from the swift kick to his back. Sasuke was sent flying forward again, but this time he twisted his body in midair and landed on his feet, not too far away.  
  
Hm, Kakashi thought with a smile, that boy Naruto just copied his rival's previous attack with a few added moves. Even though he is the less skilled of the two, he certainly isn't weak.  
  
The boy's were both breathing heavily now, glaring at eachother from across the courtyard.  
  
"Okay, that's enough." Kakashi put up a hand and jogged to a position between them. "I've found out all I needed to know. Good job."  
  
Wearily, the two boys relaxed their stances, but didn't fully relinquish their glares.  
  
This may take a while, Kakashi thought.  
  
"I see that neither of you have learned how to use your chakra. That will be your first lesson tomorrow."  
  
"Chakra?" Naruto asked, confused again.  
  
"Yes, the energy that fuels your body. Everyone has it and everyone can learn how to control it in battle."  
  
Naruto nodded, but clearly still didn't understand.  
  
Kakashi sighed. "It will become clearer to you tomorrow."  
  
"I already know how to use chakra." Sasuke muttered.  
  
Kakashi turned his gaze to the black haired boy. "Hm? Then show me."  
  
Sasuke performed four distinct hand seals and cried, "Dragon Fire!"  
  
Naruto's eyes widened in alarm as his rival cupped his right hand around his mouth and literally breathed fire.  
  
"Wha...?"  
  
"Very good, Sasuke. Is that the only one you know?" Kakashi asked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
Such an advanced technique and he only knows one? Kakashi was surprised. This was getting interesting.  
  
"Who taught you that technique?"  
  
"My...brother." Sasuke spat out the last word as if it carried a disease, which even made Naruto look at him funny.  
  
Ah, yes, he is the last of that ill-fated clan, Kakashi thought, staring at the boy who was now looking everywhere but at him or Naruto.  
  
"Hey! Hey! General Kakashi?"  
  
"Hm?" Kakashi looked down to see the blonde right in front of him.  
  
"Will you be teaching me that technique?"  
  
"Well, no." Kakashi smiled and raised one hand behind his head. "That technique is very advanced for beginners and it suits Sasuke a lot more than it would suit you."  
  
Naruto looked disgruntled. "What is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Only that certain techniques work better for certain people than others."  
  
Naruto looked confused, but glared back at Sasuke. I won't lose to you!  
  
Sasuke was still busy staring off into the distance as though lost in bad memories.  
  
"It's getting late. Time to end training." Kakashi stretched and whipped out a little book, which Naruto noticed was called 'Come, Come Paradise'. What kind of name was that for a book?  
  
"Have fun camping! Just follow the maze out to the desert, I'll see you in the morning." Exclaimed Kakashi as he walked away.  
  
Sasuke snapped out of his thoughts and made his way out of the courtyard, following the maze, while the idiot followed him, glaring at his back.  
  
This was going to be a long night.  
  
AN: (1) Kapikulli is the full Arabic term for Kul.  
  
(2)Sultana is the Ottoman Empire equivalent term for Princess.  
  
(3) Bazaar is the Arabic term for marketplace.  
  
whew...that chapter was long and took longer than I thought it would take to write! At least it's over.  
  
The next chapter will introduce some new characters as well; you'll find out who the Sultan and the head Queen are, and more information about the royal family. Plus, Naruto and Sasuke alone in the desert....heh. 


	5. The Pervert and the Jerk

AN: I do not own Naruto...nor do I own Sasuke...I don't even own Jiraiya...sigh  
  
Thank you very much for all the reviews everyone! A lot of them have disappeared because I was stupid and 'accidentally' deleted my entire story off of FF.net. Whoops! I put it back on though, as you can see, but I lost all the previous reviews. I might repost them, because I still have them in e-mail format....er...if I have time.  
  
No worries!  
.......................................  
  
Chapter 4  
The Pervert and the Jerk  
  
"Oohoohoohoo!"  
  
The Sultan crouched down a bit more and pulled the white hair out of his eyes so that he could get a better look at the pleasing spectacle before him. The young harem girls are becoming even more sexy!  
  
He had made it a regular pastime to stare through this very peephole into the royal harem baths and indulge his perverted wiles. These activities never brought him shame, for he knew that everyone else knew he was a pervert, and in actuality, he was quite proud of it.  
  
Oh! Turn a bit more for daddy! Oh yes...  
  
He turned his head a bit more to comfortably look through the peephole as a few more girls entered the baths. The Sultan was just about to relax when he felt a huge stabbing pain in his left ear lobe.  
  
"Ouch!"  
  
Frustrated at this intrusion into his pleasurable habits, he looked up menacingly at the culprit only to find his very angry, red faced first wife glaring back at him.  
  
"Jiraiya-sama, could you please stop being a perverted hermit for at least one day!" She yanked hard on his ear.  
  
"Owowowowow!"  
  
"Why do you have to watch your harem take baths secretly? You can see them in all their naked glory when they get out, upon request! They are YOUR secondary wives! At least treat them with some respect!"  
  
"Tsunade-sama," the Sultan Jiraiya began, rubbing his ear with a slight pout. "You know I must partake of these activities to replenish myself and it only works when they don't know I'm looking. Being the Great Sultan of this large Ottoman Empire is hard work! But you know that you, my Valide Sultan(1), will always be the sexiest of all in my eyes!"  
  
The Valide Sultan, Tsunade, punched her pouting husband on the side of the head lightly – although Jiraiya's head still hit the ground with the force of it.  
  
"You know I love to hear you compliment me, husband, but if you only say these things to escape trouble then you should know," Tsunade looked over him tempestuously as he sat up. "You did not marry me for my stupidity!"  
  
"No, no!" Jiraiya made a placating gesture. "Rest assured, I married you for your gigantic bre..."  
  
But his voice died in his throat at the acid glare she threw him.  
  
"sigh." Tsunade rubbed her temples. "Sometimes I think it would be best for you to keep your mouth shut."  
  
The perverted Sultan just nodded in agreement, thinking it in his best interests to calm his first wife down.  
  
Tsunade readjusted her flowing, blonde braid – courtesy of her 'Beautiful for Life' chakra technique – before she spoke. "Despite that mishap, I actually came here to inform you, all-knowing husband, that three of your daughters were caught mingling with the kapikullis in the training courtyard earlier today."  
  
"Which ones?" Jiraiya asked casually, getting to his feet.  
  
"Ino, Sakura, and Temari-chan."  
  
"Well, okay." Jiraiya shrugged. "Did their mothers have a talk with them?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then what's the problem?"  
  
"They're too young!" Tsunade said, as though it was obvious.  
  
"Too young for what?" Jiraiya said, smirking, and began to walk down the corridors, Tsunade following close behind. "What exactly were they doing with these young kuls, eh?"  
  
"Oh, don't let your mind fall too far down the gutter, you know that is not what I meant!" Tsunade huffed, catching up with the Sultan as he pushed passed a large sand door into his throne room.  
  
"Oh? Then what did you mean?" Jiraiya's smirk became wider.  
  
"I only meant that at this age young girls are very...vulnerable to charismatic males, and that this leads to potential...mistakes. It is not your daughters' time to court yet. The Sultanas must not be allowed to mingle with boys until they bloom into full fledged women!"  
  
Jiraiya smiled and plopped down into his plush throne chair, causing the walls around him to reform with windows and a small sand table to rise beside him from the floor.  
  
"Do you really think my daughters are that hormonal?" He asked, eyes glinting as though hoping it was true.  
  
Tsunade sat down in her throne, causing another table to form itself from the floor. "It is not your daughters I am worried about."  
  
"I see." Jiraiya signaled to one of the guards and a drink was brought to him straight away. "So what do you want me to do about it?"  
  
"Make sure your daughters know these kuls are dangerous and order the Generals to remove training grounds from spaces close to the Palace. Yet, if your daughters are to see the kuls, they must not interact with them. They must only watch from a distance." Tsunade received her own drink as well and took a delicate sip from it.  
  
"Very well." The perverted Sultan took a large swig of his drink. "Consider it done!"  
  
Tsunade smiled at her husband and continued to sip from her gold goblet.  
  
................................  
  
Naruto was beginning to feel irritated. He had been following the black haired jerk for practically an hour, boring a mental hole into the back of the jerk's head with his heated stare, and they had still not exited this stupid maze of sand buildings.  
  
"Are we there yet?!" Naruto whined, dragging his heels in the sand and noticing the sun was about to set by the long shadow projected from his feet.  
  
"No." The jerk didn't look back at him.  
  
"How long is this going to take? We've been in this maze forever!"  
  
The jerk didn't answer.  
  
Naruto just glared some more at the back of his head. What a jerk!  
  
They passed a sand pueblo with a tattered rug hanging from the window that Naruto could have sworn they had passed half an hour ago.  
  
"Are you sure you know where we're going?"  
  
Naruto waited for a response, but none was coming. Impatient, Naruto opened his mouth to complain more, but then the jerk answered.  
  
"Yes."  
  
Naruto was skeptical, it had taken the jerk a long time to respond.  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
Naruto was almost scalded by the heat in the other boy's voice.  
  
"You don't know where we're going do you? We're lost!" Naruto splayed out his arms in exasperation.  
  
Naruto's exclamation was only greeted by silence. Oooh! That asshole!  
  
"Ugh! Why do you have to be such a jerk?! We are clearly lost!" Naruto's statement was accompanied by a low growl emanating from his stomach. "And I'm hungry!"  
  
The jerk just kept on walking.  
  
"Are you listening to me?!" Naruto ran up beside him and grabbed the black haired boy by the shoulder. "Stop walking in random directions, we're lost!"  
  
Naruto was surprised when the jerk actually stopped to look at him, but that wasn't the only cause for shock. Although the sun was setting, bathing everything in a pinkish hue, Naruto was almost certain that the black haired boy was blushing.  
  
Suddenly noticing the placement of his hand, Naruto pulled it off as though scalded.  
  
They both stared at each other for a while and then the black haired boy turned his head and continued to walk, leaving the blonde boy behind.  
  
Shaking his head and dispelling the strange tingling feeling in his abdomen, Naruto continued walking behind the jerk again.  
  
The two kuls walked silently for a while until the sun had fully set and the sky was sprinkled with stars and a bright full moon.  
  
Naruto was tired and his feet dragged listlessly against the sandy ground. His stomach had ceased grumbling a long time ago and now felt like it was literally eating itself.  
  
"Ung! Are we there YET?"  
  
Silence.  
  
Naruto dragged his feet some more.  
  
"Are we there now?"  
  
Silence again.  
  
Five minutes later...  
  
"Are we there now?"  
  
Silence.  
  
Ten minutes later.  
  
"Are we there NOW?"  
  
Silence.  
  
Naruto was beginning to think the jerk was dead. Could the dead still walk? It must have at least been possible.  
  
"Are we there....NOW?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Naruto looked up to see the jerk gazing at an opening in the wall. He squinted and realized that passed that wall was nothing but a large expanse of...  
  
"Desert!" Naruto jumped up into the air, fatigue forgotten. "We did it!"  
  
The jerk was looking back at him now with a quiet intensity masked with a touch of indifference.  
  
"Moron."  
  
Naruto stopped jumping, his smile wiped clean off his face, and mumbled, "asshole." at the boy's retreating back.  
  
...............................  
  
"But Otoosan!" Ino whined, looking up at her father, the Sultan. "One of the new kuls is very cute!"  
  
"Eh?" Jiraiya questioned. "Cute?"  
  
"Yes, Otoosan. Very handsome with beautiful, black bangs and mysterious, dark eyes!" Sakura exclaimed in an excited voice.  
  
"Yes! And his name is Sasuke-kun!" The other babbled.  
  
"Handsome?" Jiraiya looked over at his eldest daughter, Temari, for her assessment.  
  
Temari looked back at him squarely. "He was...decent."  
  
Yet, judging by the slight blush on her face, Jiraiya could tell that this kul was probably more than decent.  
  
Jiraiya grinned almost wickedly. This sounds too interesting to pass up!  
  
"Otoosan?" Ino questioned, looking at her father's expression in slight worry. "Why are you smirking?"  
  
"You're not going to make us stay away from him, are you chichi-ue?" Sakura pleaded with watery eyes.  
  
Jiraiya smiled down at them and placed his hands on both of their heads. "How can I refuse my cute daughters a chance at their dreams?"  
  
Both girls squealed and jumped into his arms, giggling into his robe.  
  
Jiraiya smiled down at the little bundles of joy, but now he had new worries. He wanted his daughters to pursue this kul boy, it would make for an interesting novel. Yet, it would be tricky making sure their mothers did not find out.  
  
How to do it? How to do it?  
  
Aha...  
  
"Sakura! Ino!"  
  
Both girls stopped giggling into his robe and lifted there heads to stare up at him.  
  
"You must make sure that you meet this kul in private without your mothers knowing and you must not see him when he is training or in public in any way."  
  
"But how, Otoosan?" Ino whimpered, looking worried.  
  
"I will appoint this kul as my scribe in conjunction with his training. That way he can be in the palace under my watch. Then, when your mothers are not looking, I will send him on 'missions' to retrieve information for me, but I will really be sending him to meet with you girls at a designated spot!" Jiraiya smiled heartily at his own cleverness.  
  
"Ooooh, Otoosan!" The girls squealed.  
  
"You're so smart!" Sakura exclaimed.  
  
"Of course!" Jiraiya stood up and made a regal stance. "I am the Sultan, am I not?"  
  
"Yes!" They chimed.  
  
Temari rolled her eyes, but smiled secretly to herself.  
  
.......................................  
  
"Ah-choo!"  
  
"God bless you."  
  
Sasuke rubbed his nose, he knew he wasn't sick – someone must have been talking about him.  
  
At the other's silence, which Naruto was beginning to expect, the blonde boy plopped down in the sand right next to a makeshift fire Sasuke had prepared with his chakra technique. Desert nights could get very cold, while the days were very hot. The fire was a welcome companion and Naruto took full advantage of it by warming his hands.  
  
"Mmmmm!"  
  
Sasuke glanced over at the blonde moron to see him squinting in pleasure at the fire. The idiot must have truly been a simple person to be so easily amused.  
  
Sasuke sat down on the other side of the fire and stared up at the stars. The moon was bright tonight, so bright that everything not bathed in fire light was bathed in a light blue glow for as far as the eye could see.  
  
"Hey Jerk."  
  
Sasuke graced the moron with a glance, but kept silent. He didn't want to waste his breath on this idiot.  
  
"Why don't you ever talk?"  
  
The moron was staring at him intensely from across the fire, blue eyes reflecting the flames.  
  
Sasuke just grunted and looked away again, back at the stars.  
  
"Pfft. How'd I know you were gonna do that?"  
  
Sasuke could hear the other boy start to poke at the fire with a leftover stick.  
  
After a while, the black haired boy's mind wandered back to the events leading up to his becoming a kul.  
  
He had left his village, the leaf village, at a very young age in search of his brother – the one who had killed his entire family. For many years he had traveled from village to village, city to city, but he had never found him. It seemed that no matter what leads he had, his brother was always one step ahead, constantly leaving clues but never leaving himself. Sasuke's blood boiled and he clenched his fist tightly at the remembrance of his subsequent frustration. His brother was playing with him, he knew it.  
  
But one day, he had been very close. Sasuke had finally arrived at the City of the Sand, the great capitol of the Ottoman Empire and where the Sultan resided within his Palace. Sasuke had been tipped off days earlier in a neighboring village that someone like his brother had been seen along the trade route to the capitol. So Sasuke disguised himself in a black robe that completely covered his face and hitched a ride on a merchant caravan bringing goods into the City of the Sand.  
  
Once within the city walls, Sasuke had jumped off onto a nearby roof. That was when, scanning the crowd, Sasuke saw his brother for the first time since his parents were killed. At first, he was surprised, but soon he was consumed by hatred. Forgetting his disguise, the young, black haired warrior jumped off of the roof in a straight course for his cursed brother. But just before he could reach his target, his brother was gone and replaced by a Palace guard, an elite Janisserie(2). Without the all encompassing black robe, Sasuke was immediately recognized as a Christian boy who did not belong in that city. Cursing his stupidity for losing the disguise, Sasuke acted quickly and threw a dart at the guard. The royal guard was fast and dodged the attack, but Sasuke was already hopping roofs in the other direction. However, it was no use.  
  
A comrade of the former Janisserie, dressed in civilian clothes jumped into his path and swiftly knocked him out.  
  
The next thing Sasuke could remember was coming to consciousness in that room with only a desk for furniture, the one with the floor that turned into quicksand and pulled him under.  
  
Growl....Growl  
  
Sasuke was pulled from his thoughts at the sound of the idiot's stomach.  
  
Embarrassed, the idiot smiled back at him, one hand behind his head. "Sorry, I haven't eaten since yesterday."  
  
Sasuke stared blankly back at him, but was immediately embarrassed himself when his stomach growled loudly as well.  
  
The moron broke out into a huge idiotic grin that looked like it would rip his face open at any moment. "Ah, you're hungry too!"  
  
Sasuke just sighed in annoyance. They would have to find something to eat, but what was there to eat in a desert?  
  
Sasuke didn't have to wait long before he got his answer. For, creeping up right behind the grinning idiot's back was a giant scorpion. Sasuke jumped up for the kill.  
  
"Get out of the way, moron!"  
  
Sasuke jumped over the fire and just saw the idiot's grin fade into a look of confusion, before he pushed the blonde aside and gutted the creature with a sharp, triangular, hand-held weapon.  
  
Naruto looked behind him in shock, after having been pushed aside, to see the black haired jerk pushing a weapon into the belly of the largest scorpion he had ever witnessed.  
  
"Aaaaggghhh!" Naruto shuffled backwards on his bum only to realize that he had successfully sat himself right on top of the fire.  
  
"Eeeeyaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!"  
  
Sasuke looked back in annoyance at the idiot who was now jumping up and down with his pants on fire. Groaning to himself, Sasuke dropped the already dead scorpion to the ground and pushed the other boy down into the sand, successfully snuffing the fire out.  
  
Sasuke stared down at the idiot in annoyance from his crouching position beside him.  
  
"Take account of your surroundings, moron."  
  
Naruto just smiled up at him awkwardly. "I forgot the fire was there!"  
  
"Even so, you should have realized that once your pants were on fire, all you had to do was roll in the sand to put it out."  
  
Naruto looked up at him in embarrassed, comprehension. "Oh..."  
  
Sasuke grimaced at the other boy's stupidity and stood up. "Help me cook this scorpion. You could at least try to make yourself useful."  
  
Naruto frowned at the comment, but stayed silent as he got up and pulled the giant scorpion carcass over to the fire, rekindled by Sasuke.  
  
Once their meal was fully cooked, Naruto dug in heartily.  
  
"Well, nothing beats Ramen, but this is good!" Naruto said between mouthfuls. "It almost tastes like chicken!"  
  
Sasuke bit more delicately into his scorpion claw and mumbled, "Everything tastes like chicken."  
  
Naruto looked back at him, surprised that the jerk had spoken. "What's that? Did you say something?"  
  
Sasuke just continued to eat his meal.  
  
"Now waitaminnit, you can't just speak out of the blue and then stop!" The blonde boy whined. "Really, what did you say?"  
  
Sasuke glared at him. "Nothing of importance."  
  
"Geez." Naruto huffed. "You're no fun."  
  
"I'm not here to be fun for you."  
  
Naruto was surprised that the jerk would start to reply to his comments after days of ignoring him. "So you suddenly feel like carrying on a conversation, eh? Took you long enough. I was beginning to think you were dead."  
  
The other boy just placed his scorpion claw down in the sand beside him and picked up another one, gazing at the fire instead of at the irritatingly, talkative boy across from him.  
  
"So, where are you from?"  
  
"..."  
  
"Yes, well, it must have been a nice place, seeing as how you're so personable."  
  
The jerk got up and pulled out a tattered rug from his pack, laying it on the sand a little ways from the fire. Naruto just watched in annoyance as the boy lay down on top of it, his back to him.  
  
"Fine." Naruto grumbled and pulled out his own tattered rug.  
  
That boy is so annoying and cold, Naruto thought as he got more comfortable on the rug and stared up at the stars, he can't even keep up a light conversation without glaring. It was enough to drive a person mad. Especially to a person like Naruto who thrived on verbosity. Not to mention that the boy creeped him out in more ways than one. Like that time when he touched the jerk's shoulder. What was that about? Naruto felt that he would never understand it. Why did he have to be partnered with him anyway? He would've rather spent his time training with that bastard dog-boy, Kiba. At least HE spoke every once and a while. Life definitely never wanted to give him a break.  
  
Naruto finally felt his eyelids become heavier and he yawned.  
  
Oh well, I'll worry about that later.  
  
And he was out.  
  
.................................  
  
"Wake up, idiot!"  
  
"Ooof!"  
  
Naruto unstuck his eyelids from their veil of sleep and blinked, rubbing his hurting side. "Hey, what did you do that for?"  
  
The jerk was standing over him and glancing from side to side. "Shh! Somethings wrong."  
  
Naruto grumbled and sat up, noticing it was still pretty dark, in fact it was darker than he remembered it. He looked up to see that the once bright moon was hidden by thick clouds.  
  
Clouds?  
  
Naruto glanced around into the darkness worriedly. "What's going on?" He whispered to himself.  
  
But the jerk was already in a fighting stance, staring pointedly at a spot in the distance to their right.  
  
Naruto squinted and then he saw it too.  
  
"Wha...?"  
  
He could see the jerk stiffen as the figures in the distance became clearer.  
  
"Who are they?" Naruto was standing right beside Sasuke now, feeling anxious.  
  
"Myst Warriors."  
  
"Myst...?"  
  
The figures were getting closer and now Sasuke could see that there were two of them. He pulled out two more metal weapons from his loose-shorts pockets.  
  
He could almost feel the idiot beside him tremble.  
  
If the moron can't stay focused, this could end badly, Sasuke thought. "Naruto."  
  
Naruto looked up at the jerk, surprised to hear his name come out of his mouth.  
  
"Stay clear-headed. I can't watch over you too."  
  
Naruto suddenly noticed that he was trembling, something the jerk must have known already. Naruto cursed himself for his weakness and then nodded resolutely at the jerk.  
  
"I can look after myself jerk!"  
  
He was not going to be afraid in front of him!  
  
Naruto stiffened his stance when the two Myst Warriors stopped only feet from them.  
  
"Oh?" One of them, with what looked like large metal claws on both hands, cocked his head. "What have we here?"  
  
The other, with one large metal claw, cracked his other hand's knuckles. "Heh. Looks like we have some kuls without supervision!"  
  
Naruto looked determinedly back at the black haired boy beside him only to see the look was being returned. The corners of Naruto's mouth turned up a bit. No matter what, they were going to win.  
  
"Let's rip them apart." The other Myst Warrior muttered.  
  
Then, they both jumped in for the kill.  
  
AN: (1) Valide Sultan is the Arabic term for the Head Queen or Queen mother.  
  
(2) Janisseries were the Sultan's elite warriors in his army.  
  
Well, that came out better than I thought it would. The first half flowed well, surprisingly, because it was so easy to write Jiraiya's character and his interactions with others. Great choice for a Sultan, eh? I figured, he would have to be the greatest pervert in the land. What with his multiple harem wives and all. Hehe.  
  
Next chapter...Naruto and Sasuke face off in their first battle teamed together and they ....well, I can't tell you, you'll just have to wait and read it!  
  
Plus, Sultan Jiraiya's plan for Sasuke begins to go into effect. Stay tuned!  
  
Naruto: ne, Phoenixdown?  
  
Phoenixdown: Oh Naruto, what a pleasant surprise! Have you read my fic?  
  
Naruto: yeah, but isn't this story supposed to have romance? Not that I'd want to read about myself kissing that Sasuke-jerk!  
  
Sasuke: Shut up, dobe.  
  
Phoenixdown: Well, yes, it is supposed to EVENTUALLY become a romance...I just can't seem to find the right time for the...you know...mushy stuff.  
  
Naruto: But...but...wasn't this chapter the perfect time? I mean, Sasuke and I are ALONE...in a desert!  
  
Phoenixdown: Well, I thought that if anything happened this early, it would feel rushed and out of character. Sorry Naruto! You'll just have to have patience.  
  
Naruto: Hey! Hey! Don't apologize! It's not like I was complaining or anything...I don't want to have to read about that jerk and I...cuddling. fake shudders.  
  
Sasuke: You WERE complaining, dobe. You know you want it.  
  
Naruto: I was not! blushes. I don't think I like this story anymore!  
  
Phoenixdown: Gee Naruto, thanks for the support.  
  
Sasuke: I don't know. face flushes. I think it's pretty good. Naruto: Wha...? becomes even redder.  
  
Phoenixdown: Well, thank you Sasuke-kun. See Naruto? Maybe you should learn a thing or two from your lover.  
  
Naruto: He is NOT my lover!  
  
Sasuke: Moron!  
  
Naruto: Jerk!  
  
Phoenixdown: sigh. Well, on with the next chapter than. These two are hopeless. See the obstacles I am up against? At least SOMEONE likes my fic... 


	6. No Longer Fun and Games

AN: I don't own Naruto and thank God, because I would've really effed it up, eh?  
  
Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all of you who've been reviewing. You don't know how much it means to me.  
  
Chapter 5  
No Longer Fun and Games  
  
"Ooof!"  
  
Naruto was immediately hit hard in the stomach by a long metal chain, which was now wrapping around him and tightening as though it was a snake.  
  
The clouds covering the moon slowly passed, letting the moonlight break through and adorn everything in an ethereal glow. Naruto squinted and was able to see the black-haired jerk fighting ahead of him, gracefully dodging the languid chains and metal claws of his opponent and giving back well placed kicks and punches of his own.  
  
Naruto winced when the chains became tighter, pushing up against his ribs and never stopping. He was going to pop like a desert fruit if he didn't do something soon.  
  
Naruto struggled with the metal bindings to no effect. In a desperate attempt, he kicked up at the chain leading back to his attacker, hoping in vain that his control on the chain would loosen. The chain just became tighter and Naruto could swear he heard something crack and it wasn't a chain.  
  
"Ungh!"  
  
For the second time in his life, Naruto felt a blackness begin to impede upon his vision. It was scary and comforting at the same time, for it promised a relief from the mounting pain but also a most probable death.  
  
"Dammit!" Naruto spat blood, looking down at the sneering face of his opponent – or at least he thought it was sneering, he couldn't really tell with the iron mass covering the man's lower face.  
  
Naruto, the blackness creeping up around his vision, noticed that the jerk had managed to immobilize his opponent with the enemy's own chains. Then Naruto felt angry, both at himself and at the jerk.  
  
I will not lose to him!  
  
Suddenly, a familiar pressure welled up within Naruto's gut. It was like a flame licking at his insides and waiting to get out; overflowing into his extremities and still wanting release. Heat rose around him, cocooning him in a bright blue light.  
  
"I'm...not...gonna...die!" And then he exploded.  
  
The warm energy emanating from Naruto's skin pulsed outwards and broke the chain holding him, reducing the chains to a dust that spilled to the desert sand below.  
  
Everyone had turned to look at Naruto, including Sasuke who was in shock 'that idiot? So much chakra...', but Naruto didn't notice as he raised his fist towards his opponent.  
  
"You aren't going to win! Eyaaaaaahh!"  
  
The Mist Warrior's eyes had widened at the initial shock of seeing so much chakra emanating from such a small and seemingly inexperienced kul, but they returned to slits when the boy jumped toward him like a blue ball of flame.  
  
"I'm not that weak, kid!" The Myst warrior spat and pulled out a clawed hand.  
  
"Naruto...no!"  
  
It all happened in a flash. Naruto had noticed only too late that his opponent had lashed out a fully clawed hand, one that would impale Naruto with the force of his own forward momentum. He could see the dreaded tips of metal claw shine in the moonlight ever closer, before something dark blue moved into his view and Naruto crashed into it instead.  
  
"Unnnngggghh!" Sasuke coughed up blood.  
  
Naruto dazedly looked up from his place on the ground to see the jerk standing above him, facing their opponent.  
  
"Hey jerk! Why'd you have to..." Naruto yelled, but then his voice died in his throat. It wasn't normal for someone to have that much blood pool at their feet.  
  
Naruto stared at the boy with wide worried eyes.  
  
"You moron..." the black haired boy looked back at him, blood trickling down his chin from the corners of his mouth.  
  
"Sasuke...what...?" Naruto trembled.  
  
The black haired boy smiled at that. "You said my name..." His deep black eyes began to glaze over. "It sounds good."  
  
Naruto was too shocked at that statement to reply, and new and confusing emotions were welling up within his heart.  
  
"Sasuke..."  
  
The Mist Warrior grinned behind his mask and wrenched his claws out of the boy's stomach harshly.  
  
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaghhhhh!" Sasuke fell to his knees in his own growing pool of blood and spat out some more. He morbidly noticed that the blood was quickly absorbed by the white sand, staining it pink. The pinkness spread until it was all he could see, but he was unexpectedly pulled onto his back and then he was greeted by an endless blanket of stars.  
  
"Sasuke..." Naruto was crying now and holding the dark haired boy close. The boy in his arms just stared up blankly, not even flinching when Naruto's tears splashed against his pale cheek. "Why?"  
  
Sasuke slowly switched his gaze to the blond boy's face above him as though coming out of a dream. "I don't know..." He paused and watched the boy's face, absently following the glittering tears down his rounded cheeks that glowed in white moonlight; while the boy's hair was glowing yellow as though it was the sun. "My legs just moved on their own."  
  
"Sasuke...I didn't ask you to...you shouldn't have..." Naruto trembled, pushing his hand against the boy's stomach wound and getting it drenched in blood. Naruto panicked, it wouldn't stop flowing.  
  
The boy was crying rivers now, drenching Sasuke's face in warm, salty tears. "I know..." Sasuke murmured, his lungs burned and it hurt to breathe. "I promised myself that I would kill my brother...that man..." He breathed in again, laboriously. "You, don't die."  
  
Then his body went completely slack in Naruto's arms.  
  
"Hey kid! You're opponent is me!" The Mist Warrior was racing towards him now with his freed partner, bloody claw outstretched. Naruto didn't really care. He felt empty...an emptiness he couldn't remember ever feeling before. He could only clutch the dead boy's body closer.  
  
"And your opponent is me, Asshole!"  
  
The leading Mist warrior looked to the side too late, before he was dealt a flying knee to the face and sent crashing into the sand.  
  
Kiba with Akamaru on his shoulder dropped a few feet away, staring smugly at the downed warrior.  
  
The Mist warrior groaned and tried to stand up, but his extremities wouldn't cooperate.  
  
"uh, uh, uh." Kiba sneered, wagging his finger back and forth patronizingly, "you're in my friend's shadow."  
  
The warrior looked down to see that indeed his shadow created by the moon was darker now and connected to the shadow of yet another kul, sitting not too far away from them. In consternation, he realized that his comrade was in the same predicament, sitting a bit in front of him.  
  
Geez, this is already troublesome, my chakra's about to be depleted, Shikamaru thought in irritation, watching the two warriors struggle to move within his shadow binding technique.  
  
"Kiba!" The other's boy's head snapped towards him. "Stop standing there and attack!"  
  
Kiba just nodded, grinning. "My pleasure."  
  
Naruto hadn't even noticed the new arrivals. He was still stuck in his own little tortured world, hugging the boy in his arms closer and closer. He had never seen death before. It scared him like nothing else. He could smell blood all around him, infused in the sand beneath him and flowing steadily from its original source. Naruto buried his face into midnight black hair and breathed it in, trying to get rid of the metallic scent. It smelled like sweat and musk, a naturally boyish fragrance; a smell denoting life. Naruto clung to that scent like a lifeline and found his mind bombarded by images of his days leading up to this.  
  
Iruka, smiling at him in slight exasperation after finding out about another one of Naruto's pranks from a balaclava clad neighbor lady – General Kakashi, smiling at him with his one visible eye and then walking away – Kiba, staring down at him in disdain, holding his dog Akamaru close in a protective manner – Shikamaru, smiling in annoyance and holding out his hand – Choji, nodding at him before going back to rifling through his sack of barbecue cutlets – The Sultanas, Sakura and Ino, staring at him in a mix of shock and fury – Sasuke, glaring at him with cool disdain while sitting in the pueblo window – Sasuke, staring down at him in growing surprise, straddling his waist – Sasuke, looking back at him with blush stained cheeks – Sasuke...Sasuke...Sasuke...  
  
Then, it snapped.  
  
"AAAAaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrgggghhhhhhh!"  
  
Heat rose out of Naruto's center and consumed him, lapping like red flames against his flesh and then exploding outwards into thick, glowing rivulets. He could feel his body tense and his nails sharpen, and he let go of the boy of his arms, laying him gently on the blood-stained sand. The energy continued to whip around him as he crouched. Naruto felt a different power within him pulse in tune to his heart as vulpine fangs lengthened and poked against his lower lip, drawing some blood.  
  
"What the hell?" Kiba stopped his charge at the Myst warriors with the sudden sensation of a dangerous chakra explosion emanating from somewhere behind him.  
  
Shikamaru had looked back as well, shocked at the sight. The blond boy, Naruto, was now engulfed in flaming energy and his pupils were slitted as though he was an animal, crouching in wait for the kill.  
  
"Damn you...!" The crouching boy breathed. "Assholes! I'll kill you!" The boy tensed as though about to spring and his chakra exploded to an even brighter luminescence.  
  
Shikamaru's eyes widened. "Kiba! Get out of there!"  
  
Kiba just stood there, dumbfounded and in shock; his eyes wide in disbelief and fear.  
  
"Kiba!"  
  
Shikamaru immediately let go of his shadow technique on the Mist warriors as the feral boy sprang towards them, and switched it over to Kiba. His shadow latched on and, once he was in control, he ran in the opposite direction, Kiba helplessly mimicking his movements.  
  
Breathing heavily, Shikamaru stooped against a sand dune and turned back, seeing that Kiba had done the same ten feet behind him. What is this? Shikamaru released his technique as his chakra had been depleted and stared in slight horror at the battle taking place back where they had left.  
  
Naruto had pounced viciously on one of the warriors and was now in the process of gouging the warrior's insides with bloody claws. The other warrior had gotten up and was about to attack when the small boy jumped off of his prey in an arc and landed on his new attacker's back, digging into the man's lower lumbar and shoulder blades with claws on his feet and hands. The warrior cried out and his neck was slashed deeply in one swift movement.  
  
"What is going on?" Kiba wheezed, pulling himself up beside Shikamaru and watching terrified as the powerful boy continued to slash out the innards of the two dead Mist warriors.  
  
"I don't..." But Shikamaru paused when he saw a new, taller figure with upswept gray hair appear within the carnage.  
  
"Naruto!"  
  
The boy turned his blood soaked face towards the General and growled ferally, eyes darkening into mahogany with deepening whisker marks upon his cheeks.  
  
So he has let the fox djinn within him take over, Kakashi mused with mild concern. But this might be just like before, just like what that older kapikulli described.  
  
..........flashback..........  
  
"About Naruto-kun, there's something you should know."  
  
"Hm?" Kakashi stared down at the kul in interest, it was unusual for a kul to ask to speak with a General, usually such an act would be punished; but Kakashi had an insatiable curiosity.  
  
The kul sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, covering a long horizontal scar as he did so. "That kul is not a normal boy...he has a djinn sealed within him."  
  
Kakashi frowned underneath his mask, leaning back against one wall of the kul's pueblo. "What type of djinn?"  
  
"A fox." He sighed again, looking straight back at Kakashi. "But not only that – it's the nine-tails."  
  
Kakashi's one visible eye widened slightly, but he remained calm. "How?"  
  
The kul paused as though debating whether to tell Kakashi everything. "The Fourth Caliph of the Leaf Village sealed the Nine-tails into a baby boy, Naruto...his son, to save the village. Yet, it took the Fourth's life along with many others." The kul looked pained at that.  
  
"What can he do?" Kakashi asked, sure that there was more to this conversation.  
  
"He has begun to use the fox's power." The kul looked solemn. "Naruto-kun let the fox's spirit mold with his during a confrontation shortly before he was brought here. In that form, he has great power and I believe, if left alone, he can act unpredictably. It was good that that confrontation ended quickly, because he reverted back easily, but I fear that it will be increasingly difficult for him to leave that state when his emotions are heightened."  
  
"I see." Kakashi pushed his hands deeper into his pockets. "Thank you for the information."  
  
The kul just nodded up at him.  
  
.............end of flashback.............  
  
Heightened emotional state, huh?  
  
Kakashi removed his gaze from the feral child to glance at the fallen bodies. There were two Mist warriors splayed out and bloody near where Naruto now crouched and a third, bloody body lay a few feet away from the fight. Kakashi recognized him to be the dark haired kul, Sasuke. Unlike the two dead bodies before the vulpine Naruto, Kakashi noticed a slight rise and fall of the fallen kul's chest.  
  
I see.  
  
"Naruto, you've done all you can. You're attackers are dead. The threat is gone and your teammate is safe."  
  
The Vulpine boy growled menacingly, but his eyes lost their predatory glint. He looked confused as to what to do next and began to breathe heavily.  
  
Kakashi smiled a bit serenely behind his mask. "Go to sleep Naruto, it's over."  
  
The young boy's face loosened, his eyes bleeding back into an ocean blue and his fangs receding. Then he fell unceremoniously to the ground. Out like a lantern in the breeze.  
  
.........................  
  
rustle rustle  
  
"Would you quit that, Choji? I can't believe you, you've just eaten! It's giving me a headache!"  
  
"Shut up, dog-breath!"  
  
"Why you!"  
  
"Geez, now you two are giving me a headache! How troublesome could you be?"  
  
"Wait, I think he's waking up."  
  
"Eh?"  
  
rustle rustle  
  
Naruto's eyes opened slowly and winced at the brightness that immediately stabbed at his retina. Slowly acclimating to the light, Naruto opened his eyes a little further to see Shikamaru, Kiba, and Choji sitting on a sand bench beside his bed.  
  
He stared at them in confusion as they stared back at him for a while before Shikamaru spoke.  
  
"Man, Naruto, you have been asleep forever."  
  
"Tell me about it." Kiba added, scratching Akamaru behind the ears.  
  
Choji just crunched on a particularly hard beef cutlet.  
  
"What happened?" Naruto asked, trying to get up, but once he did he realized that was a bad idea. It felt that he had broken a rib.  
  
The three boys looked at each other as though debating how to answer the question.  
  
Then the memories began to flow back in. Being woken up by the jerk and then thrown into battle against two Myst Warriors. Getting squeezed to death by a gigantic, living chain. Charging at his opponent and realizing only too late that he would be impaled. Falling into a soft blue fabric. Holding a dying Sasuke in his arms...Sasuke...so much blood...  
  
"Sasuke!" Naruto sat up fully now, gripping his sheets with white knuckles.  
  
"Whoa Naruto, hold it!" Shikamaru said as Kiba pushed the other boy back against his pillows. "Don't worry. Sasuke is in the other room getting treatment."  
  
Naruto stopped struggling against Kiba's hold and looked at Shikamaru in confusion. "Treatment...?" But there was so much blood...  
  
"Yeah," Shikamaru replied. "General Kakashi said he should recover. In fact, he seemed more worried about you."  
  
"About me...?" Naruto mumbled, feeling completely dazed.  
  
Kiba released his grip and fell back onto the bench. "Yeah, you really gave us a fright back there."  
  
"What'd I do?" Naruto asked, trying to will the memories back, but he had none. "What happened?"  
  
"Well, you...um...it was like..." Shikamaru began, looking at the ceiling as though it would tell him what to say.  
  
"It was like you were a rabid dog." Kiba supplied and Akamaru barked in agreement.  
  
"A rabid dog?" Naruto mumbled, feeling increasingly ill at ease.  
  
"Yeah, a really powerful one. You killed those warriors."  
  
Naruto looked back at them in shock, mouth going slack. "I killed..."  
  
Shikamaru, sensing where Naruto's thought process was leading him, interrupted. "Yeah, but you saved everyone."  
  
Kiba gave Shikamaru a sideways glance.  
  
Shikamaru just ignored it, he knew he was lying. Kiba was just about to slam the two Myst warriors into unconsciousness before Naruto went wild and killed them instead, but he wasn't about to tell that to Naruto.  
  
Naruto stayed silent at that moment gazing at a spot on the white sand wall past Shikamaru's shoulder.  
  
"Naruto?" Shikamaru asked tentatively.  
  
"What were you guys doing there?" Naruto asked, in almost a whisper, sliding his gaze to lock with Shikamaru's.  
  
"We were in the desert just like you remember?" Kiba supplied. "It was all of our punishment for blowing up our shack."  
  
"Pueblo." Shikamaru muttered.  
  
"Okay, okay...whatever!" Kiba huffed. "Anyway, we were camping out there just like you two were and then we heard shouts, so Shikamaru and I went to investigate, leaving Choji to watch over the fire."  
  
Shikamaru sighed, looking at Naruto. "That's when we saw you, Naruto, holding Sasuke like he was dead and not even reacting to your opponents' fresh attack. So we stepped in, and I guess, the rest is history."  
  
"Well, thanks...I guess." Naruto shrugged, turning his gaze to look out the window of his small room.  
  
"Sure thing." Shikamaru replied, looking a bit worried. He didn't remember the blond-headed boy ever acting so downtrodden.  
  
"Young kuls." Everyone except for Naruto turned to regard the new arrival, General Kakashi, as he stepped past the archway serving as a door to the room. "Go back to your new pueblo. I need to have a word."  
  
.................................  
  
"Onee-san, do you think he'll be all right?" Sakura asked looking up at her big half-sister, Temari, as they all sat by the handsome kul's bed.  
  
Temari looked down at her and smiled faintly, "yes, after all, grandmother Sultan Tsunade is an experienced healer."  
  
Ino stared down at the boy, tracing his soft, pale cheek with her eyes. He really was quite beautiful, even while asleep. "How did this happen, Onee- san?"  
  
"I've heard tell from the guards that he was attacked in the desert while training by rogue warriors from the village of Mist."  
  
"Alone?" Sakura asked, fingering her silk light green pants.  
  
"No", Temari replied. "He was with one other kul."  
  
"What happened to him?" Sakura asked, curious.  
  
"I don't know. No one has said anything." Temari answered, a bit puzzled. It was odd, but it was almost as though the other boy was being kept secret.  
  
"I bet it was that blond kul, with the stupid expression." Ino mumbled, finally looking at the two beside her. "It didn't look like he could do anything useful. No wonder Sasuke-kun turned out this way."  
  
Temari kept a blank expression at the comment. If it was that boy then he did something special out in that desert. Nothing else would warrant such secrecy. Whoever Sasuke-kun companion was, they were now being kept under strict anonymity. It didn't feel right.  
  
Sakura leaned over the sleeping kul's bed and studied his face. Long black bangs spread out across the white, satin pillow just a bit lighter in color than the boy's complexion. She reached out a hand and trailed a finger along his jaw.  
  
No matter what, I will be your wife, handsome kul.  
  
....................................  
  
Kakashi stood in the archway for a little bit longer, staring at the young blond's back as the boy pretended to look out the window. Kakashi knew that this would be difficult for the kul, waking up in an unfamiliar place after doing so much he didn't know he could do.  
  
Kakashi's mind wandered to the conclusion of his conversation with the kul who had been the boy's surrogate father.  
  
........flashback........  
  
Kakashi had turned to leave, but just before he stepped past the threshold of the pueblo he looked back. "Does he know?"  
  
The kul looked down a bit in shame and let out another breath. "I haven't had the courage to tell him. All of the villagers hated him for it. He was all alone."  
  
"I see."  
  
Then Kakashi left.  
  
........end of flashback.......  
  
Kakashi stepped over to the bed and sat down at its foot beside Naruto, staring out the window as well.  
  
"Do you remember what happened in the desert?"  
  
The boy stiffened but didn't reply or move in any other way. Kakashi took that as a no.  
  
"You lost control of your emotions for your dying comrade and you let the Nine-tails take over."  
  
Naruto looked up at him now, blue eyes full of confusion and understanding all at once. "Nine-tails?"  
  
"The djinn sealed within you by the Fourth Caliph of the Leaf Village." Kakashi replied calmly, looking at the boy from the corner of his eye.  
  
"But..." Naruto floundered at the news, trying to grasp some form of clarity. "Otoo-san said that I wasn't...I couldn't..."  
  
"He lied."  
  
Naruto closed his mouth and suddenly remembered that night when he was very young, sitting in his bed and begging for a story from his chichi-ue. Back then he had known that something wasn't right with him, that something didn't fit. He could feel that what his father said was a lie. That story was too real for him to believe anything else. But he had forgotten. He had grown up amongst people who hated him and he had forgotten why.  
  
"I know."  
  
Naruto didn't hate his father for it. He couldn't. He understood. His father couldn't bear to tell him that he was that monster in the story, because then he would know. Naruto would know that he would have to leave, because he harbored a monster, and he would run away from his father. Away from everyone.  
  
"Everyone hated me, because I'm a monster."  
  
Kakashi looked down at the boy whose face held so much conviction. "No."  
  
The boy's gaze turned questioning.  
  
"People of the Leaf Village hated you because they were ignorant and scared of the monster sealed within you." Kakashi smiled with his one visible eye. "You aren't the monster and your father sees that, eh?"  
  
Naruto turned his face away and blinked his eyes to dispel the sudden tears blurring his vision. He didn't really know what to think anymore. He didn't really know who he was. It surprised him to think that his first real friends were received as a kapikulli far away from the Leaf village where no one knew who he was. Suddenly, he wasn't so lonely. Suddenly, he had felt true happiness. He hadn't even realized he was happy here until now.  
  
But when that jerk – when Sasuke was dying in his arms, he had felt the most horrible pain. A pain he had never felt before – worse than loneliness. He didn't want that to happen again.  
  
As though reading his thoughts Kakashi said, "If you want to become stronger and learn to control the Fox djinn within you so that you can protect those who are precious to you, you must stay here and train hard. You cannot run away."  
  
Naruto felt the corners of his mouth pull upward a bit, leaving him with the beginnings of a smile. "I know that too...General Kakashi."  
  
AN: Jesus Christ! That chapter took forever and a day to write. I'm sorry for the delay.  
  
I'm also somewhat sorry for the seemingly abrupt change in mood for this story, but I guess this chapter was somewhat of a turning point. You're going to be seeing a deeper more emotional Naruto et al, sort of like the actual anime.  
  
I was sort of cringing when I realized how closely this story was often following the original work's story line, especially when Sasuke almost gave up his life for Naruto in this chapter. Sigh. Oh well, I figure I've made the smaller details different enough, even if the major plot seems to be following the canon story like a love-sick puppy.  
  
Whatever...  
  
Reviews are always welcome! You guys really keep me going....hint hint 


	7. My One and Only Friend

AN: I don't own Naruto! So stop sending me those damn fan letters! (  
  
Again, thank you to all who review. If you are reading this fic and have reviewed yet, please, please do so I can see how many people are actually coming across this story. Thanks.  
  
Chapter 6  
My one and only friend  
  
He felt himself drowning in twin blue pools before the pools retracted before him and formed into two azure eyes staring back at him from a well tanned and slightly pudgy face. Naruto. The blond boy was smiling down at him, his whisker like markings creasing with the constant upturn of his mouth. His outline was glowing and Sasuke wanted to reach out and touch this angelic creature, but his hands failed to respond. He felt his lips curl up as he looked back at the boy, however, content to just bask in the palpable warmth exuding from his features.  
  
The world around the boy was glowing and Sasuke felt only happiness fill him - until the world turned dark, causing a sudden and unwelcome chill to creep down his spine. The boy was no longer glowing either. In fact, Sasuke noticed in slight apprehension that the boy was no longer smiling, but looked like he was in pain. He watched, unable to move, as the boy's face contorted in fear – eyes squeezed shut – and then rage, creating feral ridges along his previously childlike nose. Suddenly, the boy's eyes snapped open, revealing two dark mahogany eyes with slits for pupils where the open, blue pools used to reside. His whisker marks elongated along with his finger nails, creating claws which dug into the sandy earth in response to unknown pain. Sasuke panicked when the air became thick with chakra, pushing against him until he thought he would surely burst from the pressure.  
  
What was this creature?  
  
"Naruto..."  
  
The feral boy's gaze aligned with his with a snap of his head, holding his eyes for several seconds before grimacing in pain and opening his mouth, showing a set of elongated canines.  
  
"Naruto! Naruto! What's....uck!"  
  
In a flash, the creature had pounced on Sasuke, wrapping burning fingers around his neck. Sasuke struggled to breath.  
  
"Naruto...get off..." cough, cough. "Stop it...I can't..."  
  
But the boy didn't release his grip at the helpless pleas and only made it stronger.  
  
"Ackk!"  
  
Sasuke was sure his neck would be snapped at any instant – he was going to die.  
  
In desperation, he breathed in deeply for his final plea.  
  
"NARUTO!"  
  
...................................... "Aaaaaaaaaagggggghhhhhh!" Sasuke snapped out from his dream in alarm  
  
"Eeeeeyaaahhh!" Sakura and Ino practically sprang off the bench beside Sasuke's bed in alarm at the sudden outburst from the previously sleeping kul.  
  
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screeched, slightly in admonition and relief. "Ino he's awake! Finally, after a week!"  
  
Sasuke was now sitting up and breathing heavily, attempting to regain his bearings. It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the light, but once they had he peered cautiously at the other occupants of the room.  
  
There were two of them and he recognized them as the Sultanas who had all but molested him the day before. He grimaced slightly when the girls seemed to regain their composure and turn on their 'charm' – smiling brightly and giggling with abandon.  
  
"What are you two doing here?"  
  
Sasuke had asked with as much disdain in his voice as he could muster, but neither girl seemed to notice or care.  
  
"Oh silly kul!" The blond practically bubbled with girlish cheer. "We were watching over your bedside of course!"  
  
"Yes, Sasuke-kun!" The pink haired added, blushing brightly and holding out a bouquet of desert plants. "And we brought you fragrant flowers!"  
  
Sasuke stared at them a bit, taking in their sparkling eyes and flushed cheeks, before falling back against his pillow and groaning in annoyance.  
  
After everything he had gone through the week before, he did not want to wake up to two hyperactive Sultanas who stared at him as though he was a piece of freshly cut meat. In fact, he would rather not be bothered by anyone. He needed time to ruminate alone. He was used to it. He was comfortable that way. Didn't these Sultanas' have enough neurons bumping around in their heads to see that?  
  
Sasuke flinched when two warm bodies plopped on either side of him on his bed.  
  
Apparently not.  
  
He made to get up and off the bed, but two arms effectively wrapped through his and forced him back onto the mattress.  
  
"Sasuke-kun." The one whom Sasuke just remembered was called Ino breathed into his ear. "Who do you think is prettier: me or Sakura?"  
  
Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked between the two, making a show of trying to decide when he had already made up his mind. Then he shrugged and said monotonously, "Neither."  
  
The girls went silent and Sasuke attempted to get up again, but Sakura latched onto his lower waist and he was back on the mattress. Sasuke breathed out in annoyance, this situation was getting irritatingly old.  
  
"That wasn't very nice Sasuke-kun." Sakura frowned, trying to look at the object of her affections sternly and failing. "You should treat the Sultan's daughters with more respect."  
  
Sasuke's face darkened when he distinctly felt Ino push the full length of her body against his other side.  
  
"I don't know." Ino continued to whisper seductively. "I like a kul who's feisty."  
  
Sasuke attempted to block that last comment out of his mind, before he had to think on it fully and risk killing a couple of his beloved brain cells. He was just about to screw his reservations on hitting members of the fairer sex and give the clinging Sultanas hell, when the archway to his room was suddenly taken up by two figures – both watching the compromising scene.  
  
"Ahem." General Kakashi cleared his throat, stepping into the room, followed closely by Naruto.  
  
Both the Sultanas turned their attention to the silver haired warrior, but did not release their grip on Sasuke in any way.  
  
"Can't you see that Sasuke-kun is indisposed right now?" Ino asked huffily.  
  
Kakashi just stared back at the girls as though he had completely missed the question.  
  
If Sasuke hadn't been so well trained in masking his emotions, he was sure he would have been blushing, but he managed to stay as pale as ever. Naruto, however, was a different story. The blond kul was clearly glaring daggers at Sasuke while red in the face with anger. Sasuke's eyes hardened a bit. What was the idiot's problem now?  
  
"Excuse me, young Sultanas." Kakashi said, bowing slightly in respect. "Please forgive the intrusion, but I must speak to my kuls about important matters."  
  
Sakura and Ino looked upon the General for awhile and then at each other.  
  
"Well," Ino sat up, straightening her silk pants. "If you must."  
  
Sakura followed her sister's movements and both walked past the archway with dignity, but before Sakura could completely leave their sight she turned around and blew a kiss to Sasuke with a blush on her face.  
  
"Well, well." Kakashi smiled mischievously with his one visible eye. "I see you've become a favorite with the ladies...Sasuke-kuuun."  
  
Sasuke just stared back at him with a mask of cold indifference.  
  
"He doesn't deserve it."  
  
Both Sasuke and Kakashi's eyes flicked back to Naruto who was still noticeably simmering in a corner of the room.  
  
"He doesn't even want the attention!" Naruto snapped his head up to look at Kakashi then at Sasuke – almost accusingly.  
  
Kakashi looked down at the clearly enraged blond, but had nothing to say. It was clearly true that the black haired kul received a lot of attention and adoration that he clearly didn't want. And it was also true, Kakashi knew, that the blond never received attention but constantly yearned for it. Kakashi could see why being near the handsome and intelligent Sasuke would pain the outcast Naruto. This was a very awkward situation.  
  
"Stop whining, idiot."  
  
Sasuke had said it with such coldness, it felt like a slap in the face and Naruto had almost found himself at a loss for words – almost.  
  
"Jerk!" Naruto moved and was soon on the bed, holding Sasuke by the collar of his bedshirt. "I'm not whining! Do you even know how lucky you are?! Can't you even see?!"  
  
Sasuke stared up at the blond coldly, not even moving to extricate himself from the boy's grip. The idiot didn't know what he was talking about. So what if he got attention? He had learned a long time ago that most of it was false. People never saw him for who he was. He was acknowledged for his bloodline, his family name, his good looks, or his intelligence; all separate traits of a whole. No one had ever clearly acknowledged or adored him for who he was since his parents had been killed. In a way, that type of false adoration could hurt just as much as full out repulsion.  
  
"You don't understand!" Naruto was closer now, yelling straight into Sasuke's face. "You...you don't know what it's like to be lonely!"  
  
At that, something inside of Sasuke snapped. This boy had no idea what he was saying. He had know idea who Sasuke was. His history. His family. His lonely path of vengeance. This boy knew nothing. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrist and pulled his hand off of his collar then grabbed Naruto's collar in turn with his other hand.  
  
"No, YOU don't understand." Sasuke breathed, pulling Naruto's face closer so that their noses were almost touching. "I am an avenger. I understand loneliness because he is a constant companion. He has been with me since that day and I have taken comfort in his presence, because I have had to survive. Without loneliness, I am nothing. So don't presume to know him better than I!"  
  
Finished, Sasuke released Naruto, sending him flailing off the bed.  
  
Sasuke moved away from the edge of the bed, but barely had time to calm himself down before a warm body launched itself onto his chest and sent him back against the headboard, vision obstructed by golden locks and then twin azure pools.  
  
Sasuke stared for a second as though remembering something, but that was interrupted when the boy on top of him spoke in a low voice.  
  
"Asshole. Loneliness may be your companion, but he is my curse. If you consider him a friend then you truly don't understand."  
  
Sasuke watched the boy in surprise at his pure tenacity. The boy was staring at him now, as though willing him to understand something which he was reluctant to explain. Sasuke waited, having forgotten long ago that there was another in the room watching them.  
  
"Back there..." Naruto started, sitting up a bit and looking down at his hands. "In the desert..."  
  
Sasuke's eyes widened a bit. The desert...what happened? He wracked his brain as he watched the boy struggle to continue speaking.  
  
"I didn't know what to do...there was so much blood..."  
  
Blood? Sasuke tried to remember. Pink sand...lot's of pink sand...from HIS blood...but how?  
  
"I know you did it to protect me...I don't know why...your eyes didn't look right...there was so much blood..."  
  
I protected him? Then Sasuke remembered. He took the blow for Naruto. He remembered the searing pain in his gut and the metallic taste in his mouth. Sasuke looked down at his abdomen beneath the sitting boy and brushed the bare skin beneath his shirt with his fingers – it was rougher, scarred. He remembered dying.  
  
"I was scared..." Naruto looked back at him now, forgetting his trembling hands. "I thought you were dead...and I know that we weren't very good friends..." Naruto snorted a bit. "Hell, I don't even think we were friends, were we? But...I....it hurt."  
  
Hurt? Sasuke stayed still, wondering what the boy meant. Then he felt the tears fall on his collar bone.  
  
Naruto was crying silently, looking everywhere but at the boy below him. "I had never felt such loss...I had never had any people to talk to before, except for my father...even though you barely spoke while we were together, I guess we still talked..." Naruto looked hopefully at Sasuke, as though daring him to disagree.  
  
Sasuke just remained staring.  
  
"For a lonely guy like me, it hurt to lose a ...companion."  
  
Both boys were silent; one awkwardly staring at the pillow to the right of Sasuke's head and the other contemplating the words of the boy on top of him.  
  
Sasuke didn't know what to say, not that he was usually one for words. He was more often of the silent type. But this was different. He felt as though the very thoughts going through his head had been slowed down and then completely frozen. He had never felt so confused. What's more, it wasn't just his mind, but his heart. He felt strange as he stared at the blond boy with tanned skin and odd whisker marks. It wasn't really an uncomfortable feeling, just a different one. Actually, he wasn't really used to having feelings other than irritation or anger at all.  
  
General Kakashi smiled secretively as he watched the pair sit for such a long time in such a compromising position without even seeming to realize it. There was definitely something going on between the two and Kakashi could bet his last Dinar (1) that it was something more than a new-found camaraderie. Eventually, the two kuls would notice what they were doing and would probably get mad and/or embarrassed when they realized that Kakashi was watching them, but for now, Kakashi would let them have their moment.  
  
Still somewhat lost in his thoughts, Sasuke idly noticed the blond boy bite his lower lip in nervous habit. He should do that more often, it makes him look cute. The moment that observation raced into Sasuke's mind, everything suddenly jolted back to life again.  
  
What?  
  
Sasuke felt the blood rush to his cheeks for the second time since he was six years old and had fallen in front of his brother and in a haste to extricate himself from the situation, Sasuke immediately pushed the smaller kul off of him; effectively landing the poor boy back on the floor again.  
  
"What was that for, jerk?!" Naruto popped his head up from the side of the bed and glared at Sasuke, but Sasuke had other concerns.  
  
General Kakashi was standing against the far wall, watching Sasuke and Naruto with a bemused expression glinting in his eye. Sasuke tried to put down the new flow of blood to his face, but it didn't work. He was sure he probably looked as red as a tomato by now.  
  
"Hey, jerk, do you have a fever?" Naruto asked concernedly with his hand now pressed against Sasuke's forehead.  
  
Somehow, the action just worked to make him redder.  
  
Sasuke batted the hand away and glared coldly at Naruto. "Get off, moron!"  
  
General Kakashi laughed and Naruto looked back at him, perplexed. "What's so funny?"  
  
Kakashi just kept on laughing, harder.  
  
Naruto's confusion slowly transformed into anger directed at the mocking General. "You better not be laughing at me!"  
  
Meanwhile, Sasuke had already gotten out of bed and changed his clothes, which were draped over the sand bench, and started to walk past General Kakashi towards the archway – head held as high as possible.  
  
General Kakashi, still chuckling, snapped out his hand and caught the kul before he could exit. "Where do you think you're going?"  
  
Sasuke finally looked up at him and gave him another cold glare. "I'm going to go train."  
  
"There is no training today." Kakashi muttered, finally quashing his chuckles.  
  
Sasuke continued to glare, so Kakashi continued. "Now that you're better, the Sultan, Allah bless him, has requested that you report to him for new duties."  
  
Naruto, who had calmed down and was now standing beside Sasuke, asked the question that Sasuke was only thinking. "What new duties?"  
  
"It's only for Sasuke, Naruto." Kakashi replied, letting go of Sasuke and placing his hand back in his pocket. "The Sultan has ordered you to become his personal scribe in conjunction with your kapikulli training."  
  
"What?!" Naruto exclaimed. "Why Sasuke?"  
  
"I didn't ask." Kakashi replied, dryly. Feeling that he had to get out the room and away from Naruto before he further embarrassed himself, Sasuke nodded stoically to Kakashi and then walked out the archway, leaving a bemused Kakashi and a simmering and confused Naruto behind.  
  
...........................  
  
Sasuke was so caught up in his thoughts as he raced through the ornate, archways and hallways of the Palace that he failed to notice a tornado of sand forming itself right in his path. Just as he was about to collide with it, however, Sasuke's senses twinged and he jumped back in pure reflex.  
  
Snapped from his thoughts entirely, Sasuke watched in slight fascination as the tornado hardened and took the form of a boy, just a bit shorter than him. When the cocoon of sand cracked off onto the hardened marble floor, Sasuke realized that it was the strange looking red-headed boy from that day in the training courtyard. Sasuke felt a faint shiver crawl up his spine, but he kept his features stoic, glaring back at the newcomer.  
  
The boy regarded him for a moment through black rimmed eyes before he muttered. "You are good, kul. What is your name?"  
  
Sasuke stayed silent, studying the boy – noting that he was most likely a strong warrior – then replied. "Uchiha Sasuke."  
  
The red-head continued to stare as though he hadn't received an answer at all, but then abruptly turned around. "You are going the wrong way. Follow me."  
  
It was true that Sasuke hadn't really had the slightest clue of where he was going – much like when he was 'leading' the idiot, Naruto, out of the maze of pueblos and into the desert – but he figured that eventually he would make it to the Sultan as it had worked for the desert. Sasuke considered not following the creepy, red-head at all, but he realized that there really was no logic behind that except protecting his pride – and that really wasn't worth much anymore seeing as how his morning had already gone.  
  
Before the red-head could disappear past a corner, Sasuke started following him, making sure to stay at a leisurely pace. He didn't want to bruise his ego too much in one day.  
  
Sasuke continued to follow his guide through a multitude of archways, hallways, and rooms of all designs. He was just beginning to think that his guide was not in fact leading him to the Sultan, but attempting to waste his time as a cruel joke, when the red-head stopped at a large, opalescent glass door and stroked the handle.  
  
Sasuke stopped and watched the handle melt and dry into finely grained sand before melting again into an intricate glass key. The red-head took it and pushed it with practiced ease through a newly formed key hole and turned it three-quarters to the left. The door made a squeaking sound, as though protesting the ensuing movement and then slowly opened to reveal a grand throne room with many arched windows and a hard-marble floor.  
  
The red-head looked back at Sasuke and motioned with his hand for him to step past the doorway and into the room.  
  
Once past the threshold, Sasuke noticed that a large man with long, white hair was staring at him from an ornate throne chair.  
  
"Go and bow to your Sultan, Uchiha." Sasuke looked back to regard the red- head who was now stepping out of the room. "I am called Gaara. We will meet again."  
  
Then he vanished like sand blown away in a desert storm.  
  
"Well don't just stand there, young kapikulli, come in!" The old man exclaimed, taking a sip of his drink.  
  
Sasuke walked closer to the old, long haired man whom he assumed was the Sultan and bowed at the foot of his throne – touching his knees and head to the floor in Islamic fashion.  
  
He looked back up to see the Sultan smiling, almost mischievously. "You may be wondering why I have brought you here. You want a drink?"  
  
Sasuke just stared at him.  
  
"I see, a kul of few words. I'll take that as a no." The Sultan smiled, gulping his own drink down. "I have called upon you to become my personal scribe, young kul."  
  
Sasuke continued to look at him, emotionless.  
  
Jiraiya was starting to feel a bit creeped out, but quickly pushed the feeling aside – who was he to judge his daughters' pick? "Are you literate in Arabic? Can you read and write?"  
  
Finally, the kul nodded, but Jiraiya did not miss the look of disdain which crossed kul's face at the very question.  
  
"Ah good, then that makes this easier!" The Sultan stood up and flicked his fingers, summoning a well-dressed servant into the room. He took a tablet and a carving tool from the servant and then handed it to Sasuke. "First order of business. You must transcribe all that is said during my meetings with my advisors, word for word. Then..."  
  
The Sultan was about to go on when a black-clad janisserie appeared from a cloud of sand beside him and whispered in his ear.  
  
"He's here?" Jiraiya whispered, pulling his head away from the janisserie and looking into his unconcealed eyes.  
  
"Yes Sultan-sama." The Janisserie answered, forgetting to whisper.  
  
"How many are with him?" The Sultan looked serious and Sasuke wondered what or who could bring on the change.  
  
"It is unknown, Sultan-sama. He has only just been spotted by a few janisseries on the edge of the Empire, near the village of the Leaf."  
  
"I see." The Sultan frowned and then glanced at Sasuke. "Send out a covert squad and follow his movements. We can't have him act within the Empire unwatched."  
  
"Yes, Sultan-sama." The janisserie bowed in Islamic fashion and then vanished into a cloud of sand – much like he had arrived.  
  
"Did you get that?" The Sultan asked, with a smile suspiciously like he was trying to divert the young kul's attention from the conversation altogether.  
  
Sasuke nodded, he had carved the entire dialogue. He watched the Sultan walk over to a window and stare out of it in deep thought and Sasuke wondered what the meaning of that report had really entailed. Sasuke's face was blank, but inside he was suspicious. Somehow, he didn't think such seriousness was such a normal occurrence for the Sultan.  
  
The Sultan turned from the window and regarded him. "Something has come up, so I am going to send you to your meeting a little early."  
  
Sasuke didn't like the almost maniacal glint present in the Sultan's eyes at these words. Something weird was going on.  
  
"Temari!" The Sultan gestured at the girl in white now standing in a hidden archway. "Show my kapikulli scribe to his place of rendezvous."  
  
The girl just nodded, but her face was a bit flushed and the Sultan just winked back at her in encouragement.  
  
Now Sasuke knew something was going on, and he really didn't like it one bit.  
  
Almost grimacing when the older Sultana took his hand, Sasuke reluctantly followed her out of the room and through new passageways that he had never set foot in before. She finally let go of his hand when she reached an archway and beckoned him forward.  
  
Despite his irritation, Sasuke felt in awe of his surroundings. He had stepped straight into an ornately grown garden, blooming with flowers he had never seen in his life. It didn't feel like he was in a desert anymore, but a wet jungle of some sort – teeming with life. "Beautiful isn't it?" The Sultana named Temari stepped up beside him, staring at his profile.  
  
Sasuke just grunted at the girl, but continued to take in his surroundings. He breathed in almost unconsciously and immediately noted the soft, but pungent fragrance of jasmine reaching his nostrils. This was very beautiful indeed, but Sasuke soon found himself feeling suspicious. What type of 'meeting' would take place in a garden?  
  
Sasuke turned his head only to find the Sultana lips very close to his. She closed her eyes and brought her lips closer an Sasuke found that he had no time to react, before...  
  
"Temari! Trying to steal my handsome kul, are you?"  
  
The Sultana in question immediately snapped her head away in alarm and looked into the fern bushes, where the voices were coming from.  
  
"YOUR handsome kul?" Another voice added.  
  
The previous source of the voice just huffed. "Do you expect him to fall for you, big-forehead?"  
  
A pause. "Why you pig!"  
  
Sasuke watched in irritated befuddlement as the bushes began to rustle violently, mimicking the loud crashing noises coming from within them.  
  
"Get...off!"  
  
"My hair!"  
  
Two dirtied Sultanas promptly rolled out of the bushes and attempted to get up in front of their object of affection. Sasuke noticed that the pink haired one's hair was in fact shorter now and when she stood up fully, he could see the rest of it clutched tightly in her hand.  
  
"Sakura-chan!" Temari hissed from beside him and ran to the girl. "Your hair!"  
  
Sakura clenched her fist until her knuckles whitened and then glared at her blond sister of the same age.  
  
"What?" Ino looked away, but still look a bit horrified at what had transpired.  
  
"Ino! Did you do this to Sakura-chan?" Temari was frowning now.  
  
"No! I mean..." Ino bit her lip, innocently. "She started it!"  
  
"Ino.."  
  
"Okay, okay!" Ino huffed and then turned her gaze to Sakura's. "I'm sorry onee-chan. I've made you look so awful!"  
  
Sakura's face, which had been softening, suddenly scrunched up in anger again. "Hey!"  
  
"Ino, stop that!" Temari sighed and fingered her young sister's pink hair. "It doesn't look that bad, Sakura-chan, it'll just have to be straightened that's all."  
  
"Really?" Sakura looked up at her, her eyes misting up.  
  
"Really. Besides, I'm sure Sasuke-kun doesn't mind. Do you Sasuke?" Temari looked behind her to see that no one was there. "Sasuke?"  
  
Realizing that there was most likely no meeting set to take place in the garden, Sasuke had opted to leave before any of the irritating Sultanas noticed he was gone. Making his way quickly back out to the training courtyard, Sasuke wondered whether that was all the Sultan's doing or Temari's own plan to get him for herself.  
  
Sasuke let out a long breath. This day had been beyond irritating. He couldn't think of anyone more annoying than those Sultanas, but then a face of a young boy with blue eyes and blond hair popped into his head. Well, maybe there was someone.  
  
Uchiha Sasuke smiled warmly to himself for the first time since his parent's death and kept on running.  
  
AN: (1) Currency of the former Arab world, specifically the Ottoman Empire.  
  
Omg! This took so long to write. With every chapter I feel like they are getting longer and longer, but they're not! In fact, they're all pretty much the same literal length, 12-13 pages max! I don't get it.  
  
I wonder if anyone is even reading this...bah. 


	8. It's Too Early For This

AN: I don't own Naruto...and that's final!  
  
Chapter 7  
It's Too Early For This  
  
Snore, Snore...Snore, Snore  
  
Naruto stared up at the pueblo ceiling, memorizing all the cracks highlighted in the dim moonlight. He had been awake for what seemed like hours, while his teammates slept. Shikamaru drooled in his sleep onto his papyrus mattress, something the young kul wouldn't like anyone to know and something Naruto could surely blackmail him for later. Kiba was the one who was snoring, clutching onto his dog, Akamaru, like he was a teddy bear. Naruto could blackmail him too. Choji was surprisingly quiet and uneventful in his sleep, rolled on his side upon his very own double mattress – the others couldn't fit.  
  
Naruto let out a semi-worried breath. He would never admit it out loud, but he definitely found it hard to doze off without knowing the whereabouts of a certain black-haired kul. Of course, this tardiness wasn't abnormal. Ever since he had been assigned as the Sultan's 'personal scribe', the wonder jerk had come back very late every night. Yet, Naruto still couldn't push down his sense of anxiety every night as he waited silently, pretending to be asleep. In moments of reflection on his feelings, Naruto had explained them to himself as the result of almost losing his comrade in the desert. Somehow, something in the back of his mind protested that that wasn't exactly right, but Naruto, being the emotionally challenged young boy that he was, immediately pushed the uncomfortable feeling aside every time. It was based on a newfound camaraderie, nothing more – and he had been satisfied with that. This was how friends were supposed to feel about each other.  
  
Suddenly, the familiar sweet fragrance of jasmine and honeysuckle reached Naruto's nose and he immediately clamped his eyes shut. The jerk was home.  
  
At first, Naruto had wondered why Sasuke had begun to take on this particular fragrance, as he had never smelled it on his person before; but soon Naruto stopped questioning it, taking it as a blessing that helped warn him whenever the jerk came home. Besides, it really wasn't an unpleasant smell.  
  
Naruto held his breath when, as usual, the fragrance became stronger, indicating that the jerk had moved to stand by him. This had become a sort of ritual over the past week. Naruto couldn't ever be sure because his eyes were constantly shut at these moments, but he had imagined that the jerk would take this time to stare down at him as he slept. Naruto didn't really know how he felt about this – he half felt violated, but at the same time, a warm tingly feeling rushed through him at the thought.  
  
After many moments, the smell receded and the feel of a dark presence taking up Naruto's valuable airspace vanished. Naruto breathed regularly again as the papyrus mattress beside him creaked with added weight.  
  
He fell asleep almost immediately.  
  
.................................  
  
Sasuke made his way a bit sluggishly through the familiar arched corridors of the Palace towards the Sultan's throne room. Like every morning, it was at an almost ungodly hour when Sasuke had to report to the Sultan for his first order of business.  
  
Stroking the glass handle of the large entrance door to the throne room with a familiarity born of much practice, Sasuke waited for the key to form and turned it three quarters to the right. The door creaked open and Sasuke stepped in to the room and bowed in Islamic fashion, expecting to be received by the Sultan himself. When he got back up, however, it was not the Sultan who greeted him, but a primly clad servant. Sasuke didn't allow the slight surprise to show on his face.  
  
"Hello, young kul." The servant smiled. "Or should I say, young scribe?"  
  
Sasuke looked at the tag on the servant's clothing, which read in Arabic : 'Ebisu' and then gave him his trademark stare.  
  
"Right." The man continued, lowering his cheery disposition a bit. "The Sultan has gone off on important business. He has requested that you just go on to your usual scheduled meeting early today, in place of transcribing his dealings."  
  
Sasuke frowned a bit. It was too early in the morning for him to be expected to handle one of his 'meetings'. He was suspicious of what important business the Sultan had as well. He had thought that all, important business was carried out within the Palace, with the help of the Sultan's personal scribe. Somehow, he couldn't believe that the Sultan had any business remotely important outside of the Palace. He practically lived within his throne room anyway.  
  
Frown deepening and one dark eyebrow twitching, Sasuke turned his back on the servant and left the room out a secret side corridor.  
  
Once Sasuke made it to his destination, he walked stiffly to the bench in the middle of the ornate garden and sat down. He prayed silently to himself that just because he was early, they wouldn't have to be too, but his hopes were dashed when he heard their trademark squeals. He sighed, feeling – not for the first time – incredibly out of sync with God's good graces.  
  
"Sasuke-kun!" Ino pouted, swaying her hips seductively as she stepped towards him and stopping at his side to trail a finger up his jaw and around his earlobe. "Why do you look so sad?"  
  
Sasuke didn't allow himself to flinch when he felt the breath of Sakura in his other ear. "Do you want me to make you feel better, Sasuke-kun?"  
  
Sasuke tried not to feel sick, but just managed to remain irritated instead.  
  
As was custom by now, both the lascivious Sultanas, barely clad in mere silk strands, sat down on either side of him and rubbed themselves up against him. This happened every time – every day he would go to the Palace and transcribe for the Sultan and then go to his 'meeting' and get molested by two very horny Sultanas – but he couldn't say he was getting used to it.  
  
Lost in his thoughts to keep him from going insane, Sasuke vaguely noticed that both girls were pushing up against him more insistently now as though they were in a competition against each other to see who could meld their body with Sasuke's first.  
  
Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts, Sasuke repeated to himself like a mantra – but then he realized that he really didn't have any happy thoughts, and he noted that if he had, he probably wouldn't have been able to pull them out of his ass now of all times.  
  
At first, Sasuke thought that his first 'meeting' in the garden was due to an overzealous Sultana who ignored her father's orders and tried to take the handsome kul away for herself. But when the 'meetings' continued to take place in the garden, where he constantly and consistently 'met' with said Sultanas, Sasuke's shrewd mind was beginning to catch on that maybe this had been the Sultan's original idea from the start.  
  
Sasuke was pulled from his thoughts yet again when Ino unceremoniously plopped herself on his lap, her thread bare clothes leaving nothing to the imagination.  
  
Sasuke grimaced. What kind of sick pervert was this Sultan anyway?  
  
.................................  
  
"Ooooooh! Yes, turn for daddy. Yes! Ah! You're so sexy, aren't you?" Jiraiya muttered with glee as he watched through his little 'peep' hole into the harem baths. He felt such a relief that he didn't have to do any important business today; he needed a break. And what a break this was!  
  
Naruto grumbled to himself as he trudged his way to the bathhouse. The day had already gone off on the wrong foot. First, he was woken up at some ungodly hour by a looming General Kakashi who muttered down at Naruto about going on a 'top-secret' spy mission for the Sultan, which meant training was cancelled. Then, after that disappointing news, Naruto couldn't fall back to sleep because Kiba began to snore and the black haired jerk had already woken and left. And Naruto knew that he would never be able to go back to sleep once he was gone. This only lead to further dark thoughts that Naruto's life would have probably been a lot less difficult if he had never even met the jerk in the first place. Between the late nights and the early mornings, the jerk was obviously messing with Naruto's precious sleep cycle!  
  
Yet, Naruto quit his grumbling when he noticed a white blob that he was sure he had never seen before sitting in front of the harem bathhouse. Walking closer, Naruto squinted and realized that it was not in fact a blob, but an old man with very long white hair staring through a hole in the sand wall.  
  
"Yes! Ohohoho! You're so sexy!" The white haired geezer giggled.  
  
Naruto frowned a bit at this. He may have been a young boy and he may also have been a bit naïve, but he knew a pervert when he saw one and this old guy was surely it.  
  
"Hey geezer!" Naruto yelled, now inches away from the old pervert's right ear.  
  
The geezer didn't flinch but slid his gaze sideways at Naruto, looking irritated. "Go away kul, I'm busy."  
  
Naruto glared at the old man before he got an idea. During the week after the desert incident, while Sasuke was unconscious, General Kakashi had trained Naruto in controlling his chakra and performing seals. With that training and his natural drive for creative trickery, Naruto created a little technique of his own. Now was the perfect time to test it out.  
  
Sliding his feet into a horse stance, Naruto created a seal with his hands and concentrated, yelling, "Sexy Sultana technique!"  
  
A puff of smoke surrounded Naruto in a pink haze and when it finally subsided, a naked buxom blonde girl was left in the young kul's place. She smiled mischievously, giving away the boy she really was, before she schooled her expression to look seductively inviting.  
  
"Oh old man," She breathed into his ear. "Can't you play with me?"  
  
"Eh?" The geezer muttered, and looked sideways again, which almost made his heart stop at the inviting sight. "Ohohohoho!"  
  
Naruto forced himself to broaden his smile at the leering old man, but he was beginning to feel definite discomfort. This wasn't turning out nearly as fun as he thought it would be.  
  
The geezer grabbed for him, but Naruto slapped his hand away automatically. He panicked a bit when the old pervert looked at his reddened hand, but soon the geezer was smiling back at him with more sparkle in his eyes – if that was possible.  
  
"Feisty, eh? I like a lady with spunk!"  
  
The old pervert grabbed for him again and this time, got a hold of Naruto's wrist and pulled 'her' into his lap. Naruto squealed in fright, but the pervert mistook that for delight because he smiled wider, hugging Naruto even tighter against his broad chest.  
  
Naruto squirmed, attempting to get out of the perverted geezer's strong embrace, but to no avail. This was definitely not turning out in his favor at all! He was just about to give up and let the old man 'have his way with him' – whatever that meant – when the old man was abruptly yanked up from his sitting position, letting go of the buxom blonde in his arms.  
  
"Jiraiya!"  
  
Naruto felt a wave of relief wash over him as he got up from the ground and finally regarded his savior. To his surprise, it was a woman with long blonde braided hair who was currently holding the old pervert up by one ear, twisting it slightly.  
  
"Tsunade-sama!" The old pervert murmured between gasps. "What a pleasant surprise!"  
  
Her face noticeably darkened as she continued to glare at him and twist his earlobe harder, but her voice was deceptively sweet. "Jiraiya-chan. What were you doing with this nude woman?"  
  
"Uh...nothing...er...honey." The pervert stammered out, looking up at her innocently. "I was just washing her back!"  
  
The powerful woman glared harder and asked, voice dripping with skepticism. "In the courtyard?"  
  
"Ye..Yes." He smiled uneasily.  
  
Naruto sat down, still in his girl form, not knowing what else to do but enjoy the show. He smirked to himself, the pervert was gonna get it!  
  
The powerful woman let out a loud, suffering breath before she promptly knocked the pervert out with her fist. The old man crumpled to a heap on the ground and the woman stepped over his body as though it was a piece of camel excrement.  
  
She sighed and walked over to Naruto. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yep!" Naruto smiled and put his hand behind his head in a very unladylike fashion. "Thanks, old hag!"  
  
The woman's eye twitched, but she forced a kind smile. "Would you like some...clothing, young lady?"  
  
"Huh?" Naruto questioned, having forgotten he was naked, then he looked down at himself. "Oh...no thanks. I got it!"  
  
With that, Naruto performed a seal and transformed back into his former self – clothing and all. "See?"  
  
The woman stared down at him with a mixture of shock and dismay. "You...a kul...?"  
  
"Yep!" Naruto grinned, blissfully unaware of the growing anger lashing out within his savior's bosom. "Thanks a lot again, old hag!"  
  
The woman's eye twitched more violently this time, glaring down at the kul. He played a practical joke on the Sultan, let me knock my husband out without saying a thing, and then thanked me for it by calling me an old hag?! Wasn't my youth and beauty technique still working? All of these dark questions passed through her mind at once, before she grabbed the blond boy by the collar and brought him up to her eye level.  
  
Naruto 'eeped' at the unexpected action and continued to stare confusedly at the old hag as she brought his face close to hers. "Umm..."  
  
"First you embarrass yourself by transforming into a naked woman, then you embarrass the Sultan with your flagrant prostituting, and then you embarrass me by calling me an old hag." She tightened her grip on his collar and brought him ever closer. "Tell me one reason, little kul, why I should not punish you for your insolence right here and now!"  
  
The Sultan? Where? "Umm..." Naruto muttered, still completely confused as to where this new anger in the woman was coming from. "Because I'm cute?"  
  
"Wrong answer!" She lashed out, making to go for his throat, but Naruto panicked and kicked against her abdomen with all his might, causing her to release her grip on his collar.  
  
Naruto fell to the ground and stared up at the woman in dismay. "What did I do?"  
  
The woman's face only darkened, "Don't play dumb with me, brat!"  
  
She made another lunge for him and he dodged it, but not before the tips of her fingers pressed against his forehead. The attack had a delayed effect, which Naruto soon discovered when he landed and was suddenly pushed back through the air as though by an unseen force.  
  
"Oof!" He grunted when he hit the ground, finally skidding to a stop against the wall of the bathhouse.  
  
She smirked at him. "You are very inexperienced and incredibly slow, brat."  
  
Naruto grimaced and got to his feet, ignoring his scraped side. He definitely had to do something. He wasn't going to lose to a girl!  
  
He spread his legs and moved into another horse stance, remembering another technique that General Kakashi had taught him. He aligned the first two fingers on each hand and crossed them into what looked like a plus sign and yelled, "one thousand Arabian Janisseries technique!"  
  
Immediately there was a poof and a cloud of smoke engulfed Naruto and the area around him. When the smoke finally cleared, three Narutos were in the one's place. Naruto smiled in triumph and pointed at the old hag, "Watch out, old hag! I'm going to..."  
  
But Naruto never finished the rest of his warning because a slight breeze went by and pushed down his two Narutos, who he now noticed were as flat as papyrus mats and as flexible as flying carpets flapping helplessly in the gentle, desert wind. He squinted and also noticed that their eyes didn't quite look right either. He wasn't sure they were supposed to be spirally looking like that.  
  
"Heh...hehehe....heheheeeheeheeehee...hahahahahahahaahhaa!"  
  
Naruto looked over at the old woman in embarrassment as she practically doubled up laughing right there on the ground. Finally, his clones, losing against the gentle breeze, lost their 'footing' on the ground and were swept up in the air. Naruto watched in growing shame as they floated away, up into the atmosphere until they were only specks against the sky.  
  
Naruto looked back to the ground to see the old hag still laughing it up, holding onto her stomach as though in pain with tears of mirth in her eyes. He frowned deeper.  
  
"SHUT UP!" Naruto yelled, clenching his fists so that his knuckles turned white.  
  
The old hag's laughter died in her throat and she stared up at him seriously now.  
  
"I'm not going to lose to an old hag like you!" Naruto yelled again, pointing angrily at the woman as she stood up and dusted off her silk clothes.  
  
"What can you possibly do to beat me, brat?" She asked him, almost solemnly as though she pitied him.  
  
Naruto flinched, not at her words but at their inflection. He hated pity. "Just watch, hag! I'll show you!"  
  
Naruto jumped into the air towards the woman with his fist held back, fire in his eyes.  
  
She smiled lightly and quickly knelt down, biting her finger and placing her hand on the ground. Just for your tenacity, I am going to show you my greatest technique, young kul!  
  
"Slug Summoning technique!"  
  
Naruto's eyes widened, still in midair, when a huge cloud of sand engulfed him and got into his eyes. Wiping at them harshly, Naruto didn't open them until he slammed against something cold and sticky.  
  
SPLAT!  
  
"Ugh..." Naruto pulled his cheek away from the gooey surface and spat out some more. What was this thing?  
  
"Meet my powerful slug, brat."  
  
Naruto pushed his upper body up only to see the old hag smiling back at him from the top of the largest slug's head Naruto had ever seen.  
  
"Ew!" Naruto immediately jumped off of the slug and fell onto the ground, rolling to a stop at the Slug's foot – not that it had any literally.  
  
The old hag sneered down at him from her perch. "That's not very nice, brat!" Then she motioned to her slug. "Attack him!"  
  
The slug hastened to act out his mistress' command and began to slide its way over to Naruto at a surprisingly fast pace for an invertebrate.  
  
"Aaaaagggggghhhhhh!" Naruto screamed in horror and ran in the opposite direction, passed the courtyard archways and through unfamiliar corridors.  
  
He didn't think the slug could follow him because of the tight fit, but he looked over his shoulder to see that the slug just crashed through the corridor structures, leaving a trail of sand and slime in its wake.  
  
"Shit!"  
  
Naruto kept on running until he met a dead-end. He looked up the sand wall to see that green vines were growing over the top with some type of blooming flowers. Flowers...?  
  
And then he smelled it. The fragrance wafted past him, carried by a gentle breeze from over the wall. Jasmine.  
  
Looking back in panic and seeing that the slug had just smashed through the second to last archway before gaining on him, Naruto followed his instincts and jumped over the wall, right into a thorny bush.  
  
.....................................  
  
"Ouch!"  
  
Sasuke jumped at the sound, 'accidentally' pushing the two Sultanas off of him in the process, and stared apprehensively at a bush that was rustling and making strange noises.  
  
Sakura got up from the ground and noticed the bush when she followed Sasuke's gaze. "What is it?"  
  
Sasuke didn't answer, but stepped forward cautiously.  
  
The bush rustled some more and...groaned.  
  
"Oh no, Sasuke-kun! It's a snake!" Ino cried, hugging her sister in fright.  
  
"Kill it, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura wailed.  
  
Sasuke pushed down his urge to roll his eyes. He really doubted it was a snake. Snakes didn't groan.  
  
He was just about to reach his hand near the bush, when a blond head popped through and two blue eyes stared back at him in shock.  
  
"Sasuke?"  
  
"Naruto?"  
  
Naruto pushed one of his arms out of the bush as well and Sasuke had the most absurd impression that he was witnessing a bush give birth to Naruto, but he quickly pushed down his amusement and helped the boy out.  
  
"What are you doing here?" They both asked each other, after Naruto stood up.  
  
Naruto blushed, which dazed the Uchiha for a moment, before he looked away. "I was running from a..."  
  
Sasuke frowned at him when he paused. "From a...?"  
  
But Naruto had jerked up his head and stared at Sasuke and then at the two Sultanas behind him in trepidation. "You've got to run!"  
  
"What?" Sasuke asked, bewildered, and grabbed onto the blond kul's sleeve before he could make it passed him – for he had started to run.  
  
"I said, Run!" Naruto stared back at him in desperation. "Now!"  
  
"Why?" Sasuke asked, confused and a little anxious, but then he heard it.  
  
RUMBLE....RUMBLE....  
  
"It's coming!" Naruto yelled, pulling Sasuke's hand off of his sleeve and sliding his own hand into his instead.  
  
Sasuke was immediately jerked forward by the running blond kul, passing the two Sultanas who were looking at them both in shock and nervousness.  
  
"Wait, Sasuke-kun!" Ino yelled, but the boys had already run out of sight.  
  
Then, the sand wall behind the thorn bushes completely disintegrated in a huge blast and both Sultanas fell to the ground. When they got up again, they were greeted by their great mother, the Valide Sultan, astride a massive yellow slug.  
  
"Where is that kul?"  
  
"Which one?" Ino trembled, her great mother had always intimidated her, but this was too much.  
  
"The blond."  
  
"He ran into the Palace." Sakura replied, just as shaken.  
  
The Valide Sultan sighed and jumped off of her slug, making the slug disappear into a cloud of sand. "Alright then."  
  
Both of the Sultanas looked at each other.  
  
"What happened between you and that kul?" Ino asked, hoping she wasn't overstepping any boundaries.  
  
The Valide Sultan surprised them both with a smile. "Oh...I just had to teach him a lesson."  
  
The Sultanas just stared blankly back at her.  
  
I'm going to spare you this time, because I like you, brat. You're too amusing. The Valide Sultan smirked to herself and then turned to the Sultanas as if seeing them truly for the first time.  
  
"What are you two doing out in the garden at this hour?" She looked them over. "And in those thread bare clothes!"  
  
The Sultanas just looked up at her guiltily and blushed crimson.  
  
.......................................  
  
Heh, heh, heh, heh.  
  
Naruto continued to pull Sasuke through the Palace, running through dark corridors and strange rooms and never allowing himself to stop.  
  
"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled at the boy in front of him, breathing heavily. "Do you even know where you're going?"  
  
"Ye..." Then Naruto paused, thinking that there was no real reason to lie – he was just trying to escape, it's not like they both had somewhere to be. "NO!"  
  
Sasuke had the grace to look surprised at the honest answer, before he growled. "Idiot! What are we running from?"  
  
"An old hag and a giant slug!" Naruto yelled back, yanking on Sasuke when he slowed down at hearing the answer.  
  
"A what?" Sasuke looked up at the blond, incredulous. What was this?  
  
"A GIANT SLUG!" Naruto yelled back at him, louder as though thinking Sasuke just hadn't heard properly.  
  
Sasuke grimaced at the high-pitched voice. "I heard you the first time, moron!"  
  
"I'm NOT a moron, jerk!" The blond yelled back.  
  
"Stop!" Sasuke pulled back on the other boy, gripping his hand and stopping him in his tracks. Or at least, he would have if the boy wasn't such a klutz and hadn't started to fall backwards instead.  
  
Sasuke immediately caught Naruto from behind, bracing him against his chest.  
  
"You alright?"  
  
Naruto shivered involuntarily at the low voice in his ear and found that his throat wasn't quite working properly. He nodded back instead.  
  
Unbeknownst to Naruto, Sasuke's complexion had reddened cosiderably at the contact before he gingerly let go of the blond and set him on his feet again.  
  
Naruto turned around to face him and the two stared at each other, neither really knowing how to expel the slightly awkward silence. Sasuke slid his eyes away from Naruto to look past the shorter boy's shoulder when he noticed in alarm that something was coming towards them fast, out of the dark.  
  
"Naruto, get down!"  
  
Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, when the black-haired kul jumped on top of him and brought them both to the ground. He felt a great whoosh of air push past them, before the whoosh of air flew back. Then the air was still.  
  
Sasuke put his head up after a few moments.  
  
"What was that?" Naruto asked, completely dazed.  
  
"I don't know. Watch your surroundings, moron." Sasuke said it a little more coldly than he'd meant to. As a familiar fallback response, he had used the coldness to push back his strong sense of anxiousness for Naruto's safety.  
  
Naruto had failed to pick up on the inner emotional complexities of Sasuke's mind – no surprise as the wonder jerk was as easy to read as a Latin Bible in a pitch-black room – and he glared up at the jerk in slight hurt.  
  
He pushed Sasuke off of him and huffed. "I was watching, jerk."  
  
Sasuke pushed himself off the ground and onto his feet gracefully and didn't look at the blond. "Stay alert."  
  
Just as he said that, four spikes of hardened sand pushed out from the walls as though they were living things and one slammed into Sasuke's shin.  
  
"Agghh!" Sasuke fell to one knee, breathing heavily.  
  
"Sasuke!" Naruto moved forward, but was stopped when three spikes shot out and blocked his path. "What's happening?"  
  
"The walls are attacking us!" Sasuke yelled back, thinking that the moron was incredibly dense.  
  
"Attacking us...?" Naruto murmured and then he was suddenly and unexpectedly reminded of the first day that he had stepped foot in the Palace.  
  
'Don't try to escape, the walls can see you.'  
  
"The walls..." Naruto muttered. "They can see us!"  
  
"What?" Sasuke jumped into the air with one foot, dodging a fresh attack of spikes.  
  
"The walls can see us!" Naruto yelled and performed a flip, dodging three more spikes.  
  
They can see us? What? Sasuke thought, watching the blood flow freely down his shin. But how? Was it some sort of Palace defense mechanism?  
  
"Don't worry, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled again, dodging some spikes but getting hit by more. "I'll get us out of here!"  
  
Somehow Sasuke didn't find Naruto's words very reassuring. The last time the kul had been optimistic about fighting, Sasuke had almost died. He was going to have to save the both of them, like before.  
  
"Thousand Arabian Janesseries technique!" Naruto bellowed and immediately split into four Narutos.  
  
Sasuke watched in slight surprise as the blond kul smiled with pride.  
  
"I did it!" Naruto yelled and jumped up in happiness, narrowly missing an attacking spike through coincidence alone. The spike didn't miss one of his clones, however, and it went up in smoke with a 'pop'.  
  
"Wow, you've managed to produce more morons." Sasuke spat at Naruto sarcastically, "We're saved!"  
  
"Shut up, jerk!" Naruto yelled back as another of his clones popped into nonexistence.  
  
Sasuke was forced to return his full attention to the spikes that were attacking him with an even greater speed, it was becoming more and more difficult for him to spot and dodge them effectively. Sasuke leapt higher into the air in order to dodge all of the attacking spikes when he looked down and noticed that Naruto was just about to become a human pincushion from all sides.  
  
Letting out a breath, Sasuke dropped back down and scooped the blond up and jumped back up in two fluid motions. All of the incoming spikes crashed into each other at the spot where Naruto had been.  
  
Sasuke was just starting to feel relieved when it suddenly became a lot harder to hold Naruto.  
  
"Stop saving me, wonder jerk!" Naruto yelled, attempting to wriggle his way out of his savior's grasp.  
  
Wonder jerk...? "Stop moving, moron!" Sasuke yelled back, still high in the air. "Do you want me to drop you?"  
  
"Yea..." Naruto looked down for the first time, noticing how far they still were from the floor. "no!" He clutched a little tighter to Sasuke's shirt. "We are way too high up!"  
  
Sasuke stared, irritated at the boy in his arms. "I had to get out of the spike's range, idiot."  
  
"I am not an Id...Sasuke look out!" Naruto's eyes had widened, seeing three spikes detach themselves from the ceiling and go straight for Sasuke's back.  
  
The ceilings too? Naruto thought in a panic and realized that Sasuke wasn't going to be able to react in time. Making his decision in less than an instant, Naruto flipped Sasuke and his' positions in midair and took the spikes through his back.  
  
"Aaaaaaauuuuuuggggghhhhhh!"  
  
"Naruto!" Sasuke almost screamed it and saw, too late, what Naruto had been warning him about.  
  
Naruto coughed up blood, which landed on Sasuke's shirt, but he didn't notice. Both boys fell unceremoniously to the ground, Sasuke trying to take the brunt of the impact.  
  
"Oof!" Sasuke grunted and looked down at Naruto to see three hardened sand spikes poking out of his back from gushing red wounds. "Naruto?"  
  
Sasuke hastily pulled the blond onto his back and was surprised to see a smile on Naruto's bloody lips. "Don't you....feel like...this whole...impaling thing...is getting...a little repetitive?"  
  
"Moron." Strangely enough, Sasuke – the ice king – couldn't help but smile warmly at Naruto. How could the idiot crack jokes in such a morbid situation?  
  
Naruto just grinned wider, coughing up more blood. "Heh...jerk."  
  
Sasuke was pulled violently out of the moment, however, when two spikes raced passed his cheek, leaving a bloody gash. They would have decapitated him if he hadn't reacted to them at the last moment. Sasuke strangely felt calmer and realized that he could actually see all of the spikes' movements, even at top speed. His vision was changing – becoming clearer.  
  
Sasuke was just about to get up and fight to his death if he had to, when a green 'thing' blurred passed him and whirled around the room, disabling all of the active spikes. Finally the blur stopped being a blur and formed the shape of a boy in a green jumpsuit a bit taller than Sasuke.  
  
The boy walked forward and Naruto looked over too, then mumbled, "Big eyebrows..."  
  
"Hey." The boy raised a hand in greeting. "What are you two beginner kuls doing in this advanced training room?"  
  
Then Naruto promptly passed out.  
  
AN: Wow...I mean wow...This chapter came out to be 15 whole pages. What a nightmare! Actually it really wasn't that bad, I just needed to find a place to end it!  
  
Actually, this story is really weird because I started it after being hit with inspiration right smack dab in the morning when I woke up in my dorm room one day, and most every chapter afterward has come to me in the same way. Either the idea would hit right before I went to sleep, rendering me completely unable to sleep peacefully without coming up with new scenes the next time I woke up, or the idea would strike first thing in the morning and never leave me until I had finally written it down in all its literary glory. This chapter was a hellish combination of the two. I couldn't sleep well because ideas kept on popping into my head and then I woke up to yet more ideas. I almost couldn't even make it through breakfast! Ugh...  
  
Oh well, I guess all the stress and duress paid off...eh? Eh?  
  
Thank you so much to all who have reviewed so far! You're still keeping me going...right on track! I hope you enjoyed this...please, please, tell me what you think with a friendly/critical review! 


	9. Getting to Know Your Inner Demon

AN: I don't own Naruto, Kashimoto-Sensei does...and that's good, because I really don't have the talent to pull original stories and magnificent characters out of my $$ like he can.  
  
Thank you to all of my reviewers so far: Bishiehuggler, Kuroi Hikari, B.U.G.I.M.S, Watermelon Gal, Iceheart19 (all of whom have been with me since the beginning!), Kuroi Kitsune13, Muchacha, miekje, shirl, asds, Gisela, HikariTenshi4, cfox, WaterBookLover, ghostninja85, yaoi-fanatic, Athea, lost complex, Eikou, Mister Pineapple, Michi, rar, Psychotic Azn, ITSAME, and Hikari of Darkness.  
  
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!  
  
Chapter 8  
Getting to Know Your Inner Demon  
  
"You can lay him down over there, next to my mat." The thick eye-browed boy gestured towards a papyrus mattress next to the pueblo's only window.  
  
Sasuke gingerly lay the blond in his arms down on the indicated mat, sitting down at the foot and laying the boy's head upon his lap. Sasuke idly ran his hands through the boy's golden locks, watching his prone figure for any tell tale sign of movement. Naruto hadn't left unconsciousness since he had passed out in the Palace training room after having been dealt a serious wound. Sasuke was beginning to feel a bit worried – well, maybe a lot worried.  
  
Sasuke felt rather than saw the green-clad older kul sit beside him on his own mat. He didn't spare the other a glance and continued to examine Naruto's peaceful features beneath all of the blood.  
  
"He should be able to recover now that we've gotten him into the pueblo." The other boy muttered, good-naturedly. "He already looks like he's healing. It's amazing."  
  
Sasuke looked down at Naruto's now bare midsection to see that the other kul had been right. Naruto's stomach wound had already begun to heal at an alarming rate and the loss of blood had already been quashed completely. Sasuke had tried to quell it just an hour ago with a piece of his own shirt, while he had been running and carrying Naruto, following the big eye- browed kul out of the room and into his own pueblo. Yet, Naruto still bled horrendously, soaking his shirt scrap clear through within minutes. Sasuke marveled now at how quickly the blood had stopped flowing out of the blond's small body all on its own.  
  
This boy was truly amazing.  
  
Sasuke gazed at the unconscious boy, now breathing evenly and drooling on his lap. How could any human boy recover that quickly?  
  
...................................  
  
"For such a small mortal, you are incredibly troublesome, you know that?"  
  
Naruto heard the growling question as though it originated from all around him and reverberated through his very bones as he opened his eyes. At least, he thought he opened his eyes – it was strange, he could clearly see now, but somehow, it hadn't felt like he had physically moved any part of his body, let alone his eyelids.  
  
Confused, Naruto peered around him and got up unsteadily, all the while having the sensation that he wasn't really moving at all – like some sort of weird out-of-body experience. He noticed belatedly that he was surrounded by thick trees on all sides. He had never been in a forest before, but he imagined this was what one would look like. He peered cautiously into the darkness where he thought the creepy voice had come from.  
  
"Who...Who's there?" Naruto stuttered, squinting.  
  
"Ah...so the prodigal gatekeeper finally awakens to greet his reluctant prisoner!" The growling voice sneered. "I am honored."  
  
Naruto gasped when two bright yellow eyes the size of desert moons glinted from behind a tangle of thick foliage and branches. He gulped and stepped back, tripping over a root and landing on his backside.  
  
"Wh...where am I?" Naruto muttered in fear.  
  
A row of gleaming teeth slid out of the darkness and accompanied the glowing eyes, giving Naruto the impression of a dangerous predator staring back at him hungrily right before the kill. Then the top row separated from the bottom and the same rumbling voice escaped.  
  
"You should know the answer to that question by now, kid." The voice sneered. "But of course, you are also known to be quite the moron."  
  
Naruto tensed at the verbal attack, but found that he couldn't open his mouth to respond, paralyzed with fear. All he could do was push himself along the ground with his feet, further away from the powerful creature. He had no idea where he was or how he had gotten there, but he had to try to find a way to escape.  
  
"Where do you think you're going, kid?" The voice rumbled amusedly. "You can't run from your own mind."  
  
"My own...mind?" Naruto muttered, looking dumbfounded. What was this...this thing talking about?  
  
Suddenly, a louder rumbling sound broke out, seeming to invade and vibrate the very trees of the forest. The rumble continued as Naruto cringed, slowly realizing that the sound was similar to a sinister form of laughter. Suddenly, Naruto felt anger rise within him. This thing had no right to laugh. What was so funny anyway? Naruto was sick of being the butt of everyone's joke without even knowing why.  
  
"SHUT UP, BASTARD!"  
  
The laughter stopped, but not before it drowned into a light chuckle.  
  
Naruto stared at the eyes furiously, panting hard due to his explosion of emotion.  
  
"You know." The rumbling voice came out quieter this time, but still managed to vibrate within Naruto. "You look a lot like him...but your mannerisms are like night and day."  
  
"Him?" Naruto calmed down, watching the eyes perplexedly.  
  
The eyes softened a bit and looked a bit dazed, as though lost in a memory long since passed. "The Fourth Caliph of the Leaf. The man who I had...well...eventually he was the one to seal me."  
  
"Seal you?" Naruto's eyes widened and then he whispered, dreading he already knew the answer. "Who are you?"  
  
The eyes lost their glaze and snapped back towards Naruto, glinting. "You already know who I am, kid. I am practically a part of you now, after all."  
  
"The Nine-Tails..." Naruto muttered as though he had really known it all along.  
  
As if on cue, a beam of moonlight escaped through the trees' upper branches and revealed the Fox djinn in all of its feral glory, trapped behind a cage of hardened tree limbs and vines.  
  
"Bingo." It snarled.  
  
Naruto gasped at the sight, but managed to keep himself upright before the monster. As the size of its eyes had denoted, the Fox djinn was huge, with fur the color of fire and nine long tails swishing menacingly behind it. Naruto had never seen something so terrifyingly beautiful in all of his life.  
  
"Why am I here?" Naruto asked, surprised at the lack of shaking in his voice.  
  
The great Fox breathed out heavily, shaking the leaves of the forest, and moved its head to the side – a strangely human gesture – in something akin to disbelief at Naruto's stupidity.  
  
"You truly are the same idiot boy I have watched from within captivity for all these years." The Fox looked at him semi-fondly as though the statement was not meant to be perceived completely negatively. "Unluckily for me, and you, I might add, this is not your only outstanding trait."  
  
Naruto just stared back at the grinning Fox, wide eyed and waiting for it to continue. What is it talking about?  
  
"On top of being incredibly dense you are also incredibly prone to problematic situations which, in combination, put me in a very troublesome state of affairs. You have no idea how much of my chakra it takes to save your sorry ass every time you become wounded to within an inch of your life!" The Fox had roared the last bit out, causing a huge wind to push against Naruto and the surrounding trees.  
  
Naruto winced and waited for the wind to die down before yelling back. "Why do you care whether I live or die? What's in it for you?!"  
  
"Idiot!" The Fox roared, swishing its tails more violently now. "If your life is extinguished, so is mine!"  
  
"But...But..." Naruto was stuttering again. "You're a djinn! You can't just die!"  
  
The Fox sighed again and Naruto could swear he saw it roll its eyes – not a very djinn-like gesture. "The moment I was forced to reside within you my fate was effectively melded with yours by the seal. My once immortal status has been degraded to that of a mortal; specifically to that of you. So you see, if you are wounded, I am wounded – and if you are killed, I am killed."  
  
Naruto slowly sat down on shaky legs, feeling overwhelmed by all of the new information he was receiving. Why hadn't anyone ever told me this before? It would have been a lot of help.  
  
"I...I'm sorry."  
  
The Fox djinn cocked its head and looked at Naruto with a mix of suspicion and surprise.  
  
Naruto laughed, feeling a bit delirious. "I have no idea why I'm apologizing to YOU of all...er...creatures. I mean, I have been getting into a lot of trouble and putting both you and me in danger, but I didn't even know you were there until two weeks ago. Now that I think about it, it would make a hell of a lot more sense if you apologized to me!"  
  
Losing the confused look, the Fox djinn sneered back at him menacingly. "Don't blame me for your dire situation. I sure as hell did not lock MYSELF up in here; THAT, you can blame the Fourth for. And it was definitely not my fault that you were constantly surrounded by ignorant village idiots, stupid enough to keep my existence a secret from you!"  
  
Naruto smiled back at the djinn, throwing the Fox off a bit. "Heh...yeah. Those people really were idiots. Hating me for harboring you – a monster – when it wasn't even my fault, I didn't even have a choice..." Naruto's smile was slowly hardening into a deep frown.  
  
Naruto stopped when he realized that the Fox was staring at him with an unreadable expression – the fact that the Fox even had 'expressions' worried Naruto. From what he knew, djinns were not supposed to be capable of feelings other than hunger for blood or blinding rage. But this djinn was not like those in stories, he clearly did 'feel'...something.  
  
"What are you staring at me for?" Naruto asked huffily, although he was quaking on the inside.  
  
The Fox stayed silent for awhile, staring at the boy until Naruto was sure he was going to go insane with discomfort, before it nodded to itself – as though giving itself permission to do something.  
  
"I know what you have heard about me – in those stories." It rumbled, never wavering its glowing gaze. "But they are not true."  
  
"Not true?" Naruto asked, incredulously.  
  
"Well, some of it was true, because I am obviously sealed within your body." The Fox looked down and licked its lips as though more in nervous habit than in predatory motion.  
  
Naruto stared in astonishment at the action and had the strangest sensation that he was talking to something closer to a human than an evil mythical creature.  
  
"But I am not what you think I am. I don't think many mortals even know my true character or the true reason for why I was sealed." It paused and then locked gazes with Naruto. "I was hardly an evil djinn that scoured the countryside, attacking whole villages and killing thousands with one swish of my tail. I never liked that sort of thing. It may seem ironic, but I felt that it was too 'demonic' for my tastes. No, I was much more interested in meeting mortals; blending in with the villagers and making a life for myself as a human."  
  
Naruto's eyes widened. "A human...but how...?"  
  
The Fox smiled slightly – a bit bitterly. "It is within my power as a Fox djinn to transform into a human female. I frequently disguised myself in this form, usually aged at about 17 human years, and stole into the bazaars of Leaf village, which were just a few miles south of my forest home. Every day I would go there and meet new people; merchants, peasant women, long distance traders, even pirates who had docked in the nearby Mediterranean port. I was happy doing this, day in and day out, but soon these people would leave and I would feel lonely again."  
  
The Fox paused, its eyes softening, not really looking at Naruto anymore. "Then, I met him. He had sat beside me at a Gyro stand, not even realizing that I was there as I watched him in adoration from the corner of my eye."  
  
The Fox smiled at the memory and even with its sharp teeth it uncannily projected a gentle sweetness. "He had blonde hair that stood up every which way and eyes as blue as the sky and...he wasn't even aware of my existence. I continued to watch him as the days passed. Soon I was aware of his entire daily schedule; his morning training in the desert, his lunch stop at the gyro stand, his evening training with his janesserie teammates, and his dinner with his mother and father. I had become a stalker. But I didn't mind, at first. I simply could not get enough of him. Everything about him fascinated me from the first moment I laid my gaze upon him. He had become everything to me and he didn't even know who I was.  
  
"Eventually, this fact began to bother me. It soon became less fulfilling to watch him from afar. I wanted, no, needed to talk to him, to hear his voice directed at me, his eyes gazing into my own; even if it was just for a second.  
  
"So the next time he sat down beside me at the Gyro stand, I pushed back my nerves and I said something. I said something that I immediately regretted, but could never take back..."  
  
"What?" Naruto asked eagerly, at the unwanted pause. "What did you say?"  
  
"I told him he was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen." The Fox smiled nervously as though reliving the moment.  
  
Naruto face-faulted, "And I thought I said stupid things."  
  
The Fox ignored the comment. "Well, you can probably imagine what happened next. I stared at him in horror as he mirrored my expression, but then he did the unexpected, he blushed bright red and stuttered that he thought the same thing about me."  
  
Naruto's mouth opened in shock and then he laughed in glee, completely into the story now. "You mean, he liked you too?!"  
  
The Fox smiled widely and let out a rumbling laugh as well. "I was in complete shock at his confession, but my heart was soaring. I couldn't say anything as he continued fumbling over his words, confessing that he had been watching me from afar for weeks and that he could never take his eyes off of me. He hadn't been able to get up the nerve to speak to me until I took the initiative at that moment . I was blissfully happy and I suddenly felt that all of my lonely days were worth it because of his words."  
  
Naruto smiled widely, wishing he could experience something like that. Unbidden, an image of a certain mysterious raven haired kul appeared in his mind, smiling at him warmly – a rare sight – one of the last memories Naruto had of him before he went under into his own mind. Suddenly, Naruto knew who he'd want to experience it with.  
  
The Fox continued, finally settling itself to sit on its haunches, laying its large tails to the ground. "We continued to meet in secret during the months after that and soon we had become lovers. Eventually after much trepidation, I confessed to him what I truly was and to my joyful relief he did not shun me for it. We were both intoxicated by each other and I could tell just by looking into his eyes that he loved me just as much as I loved him. My happiest days were spent with him. But soon, all of that changed."  
  
Naruto frowned at the Fox's darkening expression; of course this story could not end well. What could have happened to make the happiness go away?  
  
The fox lay down fully, resting its head on its front paws. "One day, he had stopped coming to meet me and I searched but could not find him anywhere. This went on for nearly a week before I overheard from some gossiping women in the bazaar that my beloved was to be married off to a Sultana as a price for earning the title of Caliph. I was outraged; both at the fact that he agreed to marry someone else for a simple title and at the fact that he never came to tell me the horrible news himself. He had crushed my heart, for that was the power he had over me, and I felt a new form of darkness grow within me.  
  
"No longer in control of my emotions, my true form emerged in the middle of the village. I could hear the people screaming, but I was blinded by my rage, and all I could do was feel the pain of my heart breaking endlessly in my chest. I let out a roar for all of my agony and ripped through the bazaar with my tails and claws, not caring who I killed along the way – much like in those legends, I was a true monster."  
  
Naruto watched the Fox frown bitterly, its large feathery ears moving back against its head. He felt truly sorry for the Fox. Even though it had massacred many people from his village, Naruto could still understand its pain. It was just such a messed up situation.  
  
"Soon, the Janisseries moved in to attack me and defend the village. None of them knew how I'd gotten there or who I was, just that I was a powerful djinn, enraged and killing the villagers. They couldn't stop me. They were too weak and my anger was too strong. I killed them all. This went on until he finally came, the one person I had wanted to face from the beginning. The person who was the cause for all of my pain.  
  
"I remember him looking down at me from a cliff with guilt written all over his face. It made me feel angrier and more justified for that anger. Thoughts of him using me, doubts that he ever truly loved me, ran through my head and I couldn't stop myself from lashing out at him. But he dodged my attack, because he was a good warrior, the best warrior. That was one of the countless reasons for why I fell in love with him, and now that fact made my blood boil.  
  
"He jumped and flipped and ran to dodge my fierce attacks which broke through buildings and humans indiscriminately. I realized slowly through my hate clouded mind that he wasn't even attempting to attack me back. All he did was run, steering me away from more buildings and the humans within them. Finally, I yelled at him and asked him how he could do what he did – to me. He stopped on a large rock cliff carved with the visages of the great Caliphs of the past and that's when he began to cry."  
  
Suddenly, Naruto watched pools of water collect in the Fox djinn's eyes. There was so much pain and Naruto felt it as though it was his own. Maybe it actually had become his now that the Fox's spirit resided within him – he didn't know. He just knew that he felt for it as its large tear drops rolled over its glistening fur.  
  
The Fox's rumbling voice was shaky now, as it was overcome with sadness. "I had stopped at his tears, feeling my anger wash away under a wave of sorrow. I suddenly felt very stupid and very alone. He had betrayed me, but I had lost control without speaking to him about it and I was now a murderer of hundreds. My mind had cleared and I had felt overwhelmingly guilty.  
  
"That was when he told me through his tears that he had not meant to hurt me. That he didn't know what to do when it happened. When the Sultana he was now betrothed to ordered him to make love to her for the good of the Empire. He went through with it, but he didn't like it – he didn't think anything would come of it. But soon he learned that she was with child and he had no choice but to accept a marriage proposal from the Sultan himself. He told me that she had given birth to a baby boy a week before, the day he was forced to marry her. He couldn't come visit me because he was constantly watched and he had a responsibility to mind his wife and child. He told me he had never meant to hurt me, that he loved me too much.  
  
"I remember lowering my head, processing all that he had told me and my sorrow tripled. I realized that I had never truly hated him, even when I thought he had betrayed me – I had hated myself – for not being good enough for him, for not being able to control my emotions, for not being physically capable to bear his child in my female form, for not being able to control my strong love for him. I hated myself, now, even more.  
  
"He called out to me then, pulling me from my dark thoughts. He told me again that he truly loved me and only me and that now he could demonstrate it. I didn't know what he was talking about, didn't realize until it was too late. He performed a technique I had never seen before and then launched himself at me, pressing his hand against my chest, swallowed a bit by my thick fur. I looked down at him in confusion and he looked up at me with so much love I had suddenly found it hard to breathe. I called out his name, but he just stared at me with the same gaze, before he told me that the Sultan's elite janisseries were on their way to seal me within a mortal prisoner and then kill me, but that he would save me. He would give his life for me.  
  
"I felt alarmed, but I could not do anything before he activated his technique with all of his chakra, binding me with a seal of his own. I cried out his name and struggled against it, knowing that the effort would surely kill him, but he just smiled up at me and told me that everything would be alright. That he would always love me.  
  
"The seal flared and I was soon trapped within the body of his baby boy. He died soon after, but not before he ordered that his son be protected against any harm for the rest of his natural life. All of the villagers knew that I now resided within his child, but they were honor bound to carry out the Fourth Caliph's last wish."  
  
Naruto stared at the Fox who now stared openly back at him.  
  
He couldn't believe it...he was...but he couldn't be...it was just so sad!  
  
"I was the boy, his son..." Naruto murmured, completely dazed and disbelieving. "The Fourth Caliph's son...and my mother...she was a Sultana...no."  
  
The Fox gazed back at him warily then sighed, rustling the trees with its breath. "Yes."  
  
"He...my father...he saved your life."  
  
"Yes." It rumbled.  
  
"But my mother...she was a bad person." Naruto frowned.  
  
"You could say that." The Fox watched him thoughtfully. "But the more I think about her – and I've had a lot of time to think about many things – I think she was really just lonely, maybe even as lonely as I."  
  
Naruto looked back at it, incredulous. "You say that...after all that she's done to you...to my father?"  
  
"I have had a long time to forgive, Naruto." The Fox murmured. "I understand a lot more about my past in hindsight. Everyone was trapped in one way or another; although maybe not literally like I am now."  
  
"It's so sad though." Naruto replied, looking forlorn. "Everything became so screwed up!"  
  
"Yes." The Fox suddenly looked twice as old, fatigued. "It was a...complicated situation. One that ended sadly, but in a way I have been blessed."  
  
Naruto frowned disbelievingly. "Blessed?"  
  
"I have been given the opportunity to watch my beloved's son grow up." The Fox smiled, almost tenderly. "There is so much of him in you, Naruto, but you are also your own person. I...I am blessed to have been able to be with you, my lover's legacy."  
  
Naruto felt tears rise to his eyes and he brushed them away madly. He had never thought that the monster within him was so sentimental. Suddenly, Naruto didn't feel so alone. It was as though the Fox djinn had given him a gift – the gift of his father's love.  
  
"I had no idea." Naruto sniffled. "I don't know what to think...what to say."  
  
The Fox smiled solemnly down at him, raising its head. "Just promise me that you will never let go of a precious person once you have found one. Although my story may not inspire you to think this way, a loved one truly makes you stronger. You will become a better person because of them and they will protect you from loneliness. A state I know you detest, as I do."  
  
Naruto just nodded, tears still spilling down his cheeks.  
  
The Fox smiled sweetly, and for a second Naruto could almost see its resemblance to a human woman, before it bowed its head.  
  
"It is time for you to wake up, little one."  
  
...................................  
  
Naruto gasped and opened his eyes, truly this time, to see Sasuke, his black bangs falling into his face, staring straight back at him with an unreadable expression.  
  
"You're awake." Sasuke stated simply, expression still as blank as ever.  
  
Naruto smiled tenderly, making the black-haired kul's eyes widen a bit and a slight flush adorn his cheeks. "Heh, I'm glad you're so happy to see me conscious, jerk."  
  
Sasuke finally let a small smile linger on his lips before whispering, "moron."  
  
Naruto gazed up into Sasuke's now warm, cobalt eyes and unexpectedly remembered what the Fox had made him promise before he woke up.  
  
'Just promise me you will never let go of a precious person once you have found one...you will become a better person because of them and they will protect you from loneliness.'  
  
Naruto pondered that advice, gazing up into the eyes of his teammate and comrade. He realized, slowly drowning in those deep black orbs, that he would do anything for this boy.  
  
Slightly thrown at his sudden realization, Naruto pondered what had brought on the change. At first, he had hated him, but eventually that had changed. After the incident in the desert in which the mysterious and aloof black-haired kul had practically given his life for him, Naruto began to realize that Sasuke meant a lot more to him than he had previously thought. He supposed seeing a person practically die in one's arms tended to have some sort of eye opening effect inevitably. Yet, since then, he couldn't stop thinking about Sasuke when he was away, worrying enough that he couldn't even sleep until Sasuke was safely on the mattress beside his own.  
  
Naruto suddenly realized from listening to the Fox djinn's story – the way he described his beloved, the way he worried about him – that was exactly the same way Naruto had grown to think about Sasuke. Sasuke was his companion, but he was also Naruto's precious person. Naruto had decided that already, whether he knew it consciously or not, the moment he took the spikes' full attack in that Palace room to save Sasuke from the same pain or even death. His heart had chosen the mysterious, black-haired boy without even his mind's consent. But now, he knew.  
  
Sasuke was everything to him.  
  
Feeling a strange courageousness overtake him, Naruto lifted his hand with some difficulty, due to his recent blood loss, until he lightly cupped Sasuke's soft cheek, which had grown flushed at the unexpected action.  
  
The dark-haired boy's eyebrows had shot up a bit in surprise, but he hadn't flinched away, emboldening Naruto even more. Naruto could hear Sasuke's ragged breathing now as he gently slid his hand through Sasuke's hair, brushing through the midnight spikes, until Naruto's trembling fingers pressed against the back of his head. Suddenly feeling his own breath come in short gasps and his heart speed up, Naruto pulled the black haired boy's face towards his own, stopping when their lips were mere millimeters apart and their noses were almost touching.  
  
Naruto languished in the feel of Sasuke's warm breath caressing his lips, feeling his anxiety subside a bit, before he whispered. "Thanks for caring, Sasuke-kun."  
  
Sasuke's eyes widened, but softened nonetheless, when Naruto pulled him further towards him until both of their lips were pressed together gently, almost as though he was afraid Sasuke would break.  
  
It was Sasuke, after getting over his shock and giving in to his long hidden and steadily growing desire for the blond, who pressed forward slightly and deepened the kiss, suckling and nibbling Naruto's lower lip heatedly.  
  
Naruto opened his eyes in shock at the sensations Sasuke evoked in him as his lips grazed over his. Sasuke tasted inconceivably sweet and warm, his light nips sending jolts of electricity straight to his core. He could feel Sasuke's finger tips graze his shoulders, before slowly traveling down Naruto's back, leaving a trail of figurative fire in their wake. He gasped when Sasuke went a bit further and pushed his wet tongue against the entrance to his mouth. Pushing for entrance.  
  
Giving into his own rising desire, Naruto slowly opened his mouth, anticipating the feel of Sasuke's warm tongue against his own when...  
  
"Uh guys, should I leave you two alone?"  
  
Both Naruto and Sasuke abruptly broke from the kiss, panting for breath, while Naruto stared incredulously at the older kul with incredibly bushy eye-brows and a really bad bowl hair cut sitting on a mat right behind him, completely red in the face.  
  
"Who are...?" Naruto began, voice sounding slightly higher than usual, and pushed himself up from his compromising position upon Sasuke's lap.  
  
Sasuke grunted and attempted to hide his light blush of embarrassment, turning his head to the side and looking out the window. How could I have even forgotten that that guy was in the room? And then do THAT with Naruto in front of him? Sasuke was finding it hard to clear his thoughts after that completely unexpected and drugging kiss. He had never felt this way before, about anything. It was almost scary how much the blond boy could affect him. Where had that come from anyway? One moment he had been staring down at the idiot, relieved but concerned for his welfare, and the next he was drowning into two azure pools and eventually drowning into the blond boy's lips.  
  
Making sure the other two couldn't see him, Sasuke slowly raised his hand, grazing his lips with his fingers and remembering the feel of Naruto's lips responding against his...  
  
Sasuke soon pulled his hand away from his mouth as though burned. He had to stop reliving it or he would never be able to calm down.  
  
"Uh...hi, I'm Rock Lee!" The thick eye-browed kul burst out, his hand behind his head due to awkwardness. "You must be Naruto! Sasuke has told me so much about you!"  
  
"Really?" Naruto asked, brightening a bit despite his embarrassment.  
  
Lee glanced at Sasuke, who was now glaring back at him for all he was worth and squeaked out. "Er...no."  
  
"Huh?" Naruto asked, looking confused. Why had he said so in the first place then?  
  
"Never mind." Lee smiled, still a bit flushed at the other two kuls' recent display of affections. He had no idea they had shared THAT type of relationship. Shows what he knew. "I'm gonna go now, I have to...er...train, yeah. So you two could stay here for a little while or go...wherever. Your choice. Bye!"  
  
Naruto frowned at the green kul's retreating back as he practically sprinted out the pueblo door.  
  
Then Naruto turned to glare at Sasuke. "Why didn't you tell me there was someone else in the room?!"  
  
Sasuke stared back at him blankly, cool as a cucumber all over again, and said monotonously, "I forgot."  
  
"Ooooooooh!" Naruto simmered, not believing Sasuke's words for a second. "You pervert!"  
  
Then he stomped out of the pueblo, Sasuke following him with his gaze until he disappeared around a corner.  
  
Pervert? Sasuke fell against the mat in slight defeat and let out a sigh. What just happened?  
  
"Idiot."  
  
AN: Arghh! Crap, crap, crap! I can't write love scenes worth poop! I really hope I haven't effed this scene up for you guys too. I felt like a really big doofus writing that kiss scene, what a disaster. Please tell me what YOU think, because I think it's crap. Tell me how to improve...or something...anything...blah!  
  
That aside, I was strangely proud of the whole Nine-Tails scene and the story that went with it. For any of you who don't know, in Japanese fairy tales, Fox demons are one of the few who can change form into humans – usually to pull pranks on unsuspecting mortals. They are also non- gendered, hence the fact that I referred the Fox as "it". I had the Fox become a female human, because otherwise I felt that the whole story would be too...er...gay. You know? I mean so far, much to my consternation I might add, all of the female characters are either bimbos or uptight bitches. I apologize for that. So that's why I made my favoritest character, the Fox djinn, become a girl for the story. Yay. I felt good writing that. It felt comfortable...  
  
Unlike the kissing scene...Ugh! Did it seem too rushed? I feel like it was too rushed.  
  
Whatever. 


	10. To Catch A Kitsune

AN: I don't own Naruto...nope, not even close.  
  
Chapter 9  
To Catch A Kitsune (is a troublesome ordeal)  
  
"JIRAIYA!!!!!"  
  
The perverted Sultan winced at the angry call, reverberating and echoing harshly off of the sandstone walls. He grimaced further when he identified whom the voice belonged to as the originator finally made her appearance passed the glass, entrance door with his youngest daughters in tow.  
  
"Yes, Tsanade-chan?" He replied sweetly, trying not to show his growing trepidation. He really hoped this wasn't about what he thought it was about – or he was officially a fried Turkish wrap.  
  
Tsunade finally huffed to a stop in front of the throne in which Jiraiya was now uncomfortably perched, glaring at him menacingly. "Do you know what your two YOUNGEST daughters have been doing for the past two weeks?!"  
  
Jiraiya slid his eyes to his two daughters behind the fuming Valide Sultan, who were both shaking their heads back at him and lip syncing the word, 'no' frantically. Then he looked back at Tsunade and replied innocently, "No. What have they been doing?"  
  
Tsunade glared at him suspiciously for a moment before she continued sweetly, almost a little too sweetly, "Apparently, your two daughters, the same two daughters who you were supposed to keep away from any kapikulli contact," She stressed. "The same two daughters who you had promised to control not three weeks ago – were 'meeting' with one kul everyday for the past two weeks in the Pleasure Gardens clad in barely passable attire. In fact, they might as well have been NAKED!"  
  
Jiraiya's eyes widened in pretend shock and dismay, "No!"  
  
"Yes!" Tsunade screeched, looking even more indignant. "Both of your daughters have confessed to it, after I found them in the self-same gardens with barely a stitch on!"  
  
Jiraiya pretended to look further dismayed before he switched his gaze to his two daughters and pretended to look disapproving of them. It was important that Tsunade never found out he had been the instigator of the plot. "Is this true?"  
  
Both girls looked confused for a moment, before they caught on to the ruse.  
  
Ino looked down at her feet in exaggerated shame and then replied in her best apologetic voice, "Yes father, we apologize for disobeying your strict orders, but we had pure intentions."  
  
"We're so sorry father!" Sakura fake sobbed.  
  
Jiraiya almost smiled at his little daughters' acting skills, but he still had to carry out the act to its conclusion. "I am sorry, but I cannot forgive you for your insolence. As Sultan and as your father, I must carry out your punishment. You will both be sentenced to death!"  
  
Tsunade gasped and the two Sultanas' mouths dropped open in pure horror and shock. They knew to play along with their father, but they had not expected him to declare such a morbid punishment. A Sultan's word could never be taken back unless someone just as powerful stepped in; meaning that the Valide Sultan would have to decide to change it. Was their father crazy?!  
  
"Don't you think that is a bit too harsh, Jiraiya-sama?" Tsunade breathed, trying to collect herself after the initial alarm.  
  
Both Ino and Sakura breathed a small sigh of relief. Lukily for them, their Great Mother had a heart.  
  
Jiraiya just sipped a bit of his drink and smiled, "No."  
  
Ino and Sakura both gasped again. This was too much!  
  
"But...but..." Tsunade was stuttering now with the complete absurdity of it all. "You can't sentence these two girls to their deaths. They're your daughters! Besides, the crime wasn't THAT egregious!"  
  
Jiraiya smiled back at Tsunade smoothly – this was easier than he thought, "Then what would you have me do, Tsunade-hime?"  
  
"Well, I'd..." Tsunade sighed and gazed behind her at the two Sultanas who looked to be positively terrified. "I would definitely lessen the severity of the punishment. It is true that they deliberately disobeyed your orders, but in a way they were only following their hearts. Obviously, the charisma of that kul-boy was too much for their vulnerable countenances to resist."  
  
"Yes, much too hard to resist!" Ino squealed, finally seeing a way out.  
  
"He used his charisma on us!" Sakura followed, looking hopeful.  
  
"In fact, I think he may have magical powers designed to lure girls into his..."  
  
"That's enough!" Tsunade interrupted the blond Sultana exasperatedly then looked back at her husband. "You see? It is clearly not their fault."  
  
Jiraiya pretended to give a lot of thought to the issue, making the females wait in trepidation, before he said, "Okay. So what punishment do you propose I give them, my Valide Sultan?"  
  
Tsunade crossed her arms and paused to think. What could she propose as a proper punishment? If the Sultanas hadn't been so young, their interaction with the kul would not have been so bad. The main problem arose from the fact that they were too young to court because they were ultimately too young to marry. Of course, they were both 15 solar years old, and the usual marriage age was unofficially set at around 16 and a half solar years – not too far off (1).  
  
Tsunade gazed back at the girls again, taking in their appearances. She had to admit that they both looked well developed and were already more than halfway through the blooming process into womanhood. Tsunade sighed to herself warily, hoping she wouldn't regret what she was about to propose.  
  
"Instead of a death sentence," Tsunade began, still looking at the two Sultanas. "I propose they must begin their marriage rituals with a kul they have chosen. By their actions, they have proven that they are ready for the next step towards true womanhood. They must embrace it or suffer the consequences for their actions."  
  
This time, it was Jiraiya's turn to open his mouth in shock. "What?"  
  
Both Sakura and Ino looked as though they were about to faint from all the surprises.  
  
Tsunade, however, was unfazed – she had made her decision. It was best for the girls anyway. If they began the steps of courtship then they should be honor bound to finish it. "That is my decision. Your youngest daughters must now bloom into beautiful desert flowers!"  
  
"And if we don't comply?" Sakura squeaked, suddenly feeling very nervous about the whole thing.  
  
"If you cannot find a consenting husband within the next month, then the Sultan's previous punishment still stands." Tsunade shrugged.  
  
Everyone in the room went silent at that and suddenly Jiraiya realized he had made a big mistake by setting his initial punishment so high.  
  
Both Sakura and Ino were glaring at their father for all they were worth, screaming obscenities at him in their heads.  
  
Jiraiya smiled nervously, losing his previous confidence. "Ve...Very well."  
  
"Well then," Tsunade began, smiling again and turning towards the two simmering Sultanas. "You two had better get going. There is not much time before this apparently dashing kul must consent to marry the both of you!"  
  
"How...how is he supposed to 'consent', exactly?" Ino asked, shakily.  
  
"Hmmm..." Tsunade paused, thinking it through. "I suppose a public kiss would do."  
  
"A public kiss?" Sakura asked, brightening slightly.  
  
"Yes." Tsunade smiled, becoming excited at the prospect of the Sultanas' growth into womanhood. "Such an act would clearly demonstrate his willingness to commit."  
  
Both Ino and Sakura smiled at their Great Mother's faulty logic; suddenly the goal didn't seem so unattainable. A kiss did not necessarily have to be consensual to look consensual. A kiss of that nature could easily be forced.  
  
...........................  
  
Naruto squinted one eye open and peered around the pueblo. Choji was sleeping silently like a huge dark lump on the mat beside the window, Shikamaru was yet again drooling on his mat in sleepy bliss, Kiba was hugging his dog to him like a lifeline, and Sasuke was lying on his back on the mat beside Naruto's –sleeping with his facial expression, as always, completely neutral.  
  
Naruto grimaced at the sight of the raven-haired kul and was forced to remember what had happened the day before last – memories he was trying very hard to repress.  
  
He had no idea what had possessed him to do THAT with Sasuke in the first place. It must have been that damned Fox's story! Naruto told himself, for the nth time since it had happened. The Fox's story made him feel all sad and lovesick and then he woke up in his comrade's lap in that condition. Now that he really thought about it, it was definitely more Sasuke's fault then anyone else's. He practically let Naruto do whatever he wanted to him in his slightly blood-loss, inebriated state while some other kul was watching! That was so...so...wrong!  
  
Feeling his anger rise again, the same anger that helped him push away the embarrassment, Naruto huffed silently and stealthily made his way out of the pueblo.  
  
Training had yet again been cancelled because General Kakashi and General Asuma were still gone on their 'Top Secret' spy mission – which was clearly NOT Top Secret, because everyone knew about it. This was bad because Naruto loved to train almost as much as he loved to eat Ramen – a dish he had been sorely missing, but it was also good because it made it a lot easier for him to avoid and ignore his raven-haired teammate. He hadn't spoken to the perverted jerk since 'the incident' and he was going to keep it that way.  
  
Of course, there was a definite unpleasant side to his plan. In order to fully avoid Sasuke, Naruto had to wake up earlier than him and then stay out of the pueblo and practically hide for the rest of the day. Not that that wasn't a little fun for the first hour, but by the fourth, it was just tiresome.  
  
Naruto let out a breath when he was far enough away from the pueblo and across a courtyard. As was now becoming somewhat of a tradition, Naruto trudged his way to the bath houses to soak himself for half an hour before finding another place he could occupy his time in.  
  
Peering through the bath house and checking that he would be all alone, Naruto chucked his towel through a window and climbed in after it. He really didn't have to go to such extravagant measures just to get to the bath but he counted these maneuvers as invaluable training. The window was high from the floor, so Naruto was forced to automatically do a somersault once he hit the floor. Otherwise, he would fall straight on his head, like he had the first time.  
  
Naruto picked up his towel and laid it on a sand bench beside the hot water pool. The interior of the bath house kind of reminded Naruto of a Roman bath, the type he used to use before he was forced into kuldom. There was a steaming pool of water in the middle of the room, with spouts placed all around the rim, projecting from the walls. The top of the bath house was open in the middle, letting the noon sun's rays heat the stone of the pool and thus heat the water naturally.  
  
Naruto wriggled out of his shirt and pants and then gingerly pulled off his boxers (2). He found that he couldn't wait to get into the pool and soak in its warm waters, but first he pulled one of the spouts nearest him, causing cold water to gush out on him. Then he scrubbed his tanned skin with his bare hands, making sure to get as much grime off as possible.  
  
Once done, Naruto shivered because of his cold 'shower' and practically jumped into the warm bath; making his head spin slightly with the abrupt temperature change, before he finally relaxed. He slowly sunk into the water until it went up to his ears and sighed in contentment, eyes squinted in pure pleasure. This was the life.  
  
Little did he know that someone else was in the room, watching him with emotionless, cobalt eyes.  
  
...............................  
  
"Sasuke-kun!"  
  
"Sasuke-kun!"  
  
Shikamaru opened his eyes in irritation at the unwelcome high-pitched calls, automatically glaring at the two Sultanas who now occupied the pueblo door space. Why was he the only one to be affected by their screeching voices? Kiba and Choji were still sound asleep.  
  
Noticing that someone was now awake in the pueblo, the blonde Sultana asked brightly, "kul, where is Sasuke-kun?"  
  
Shikamaru turned his head and looked at the now vacant mat of the Uchiha then muttered, "He's not here."  
  
"Well, obviously." The blonde replied, putting her hands on her hips and letting her exasperation show through. "Do you happen to know where he is now?"  
  
Shikamaru glared at her irritated, "How should I know where he is? I'm not his keeper."  
  
The blonde Sultana's face darkened a fraction. "There is no need to get so piqued, insolent kul! You should learn to hold your tongue in front of a lady."  
  
"What lady?" Shikamaru slipped out, but immediately regretted it when he saw the girl's face boil.  
  
"Why you...!" The Sultana started forward but was held back by her pink- haired companion.  
  
"Calm down Ino!" The pink-haired one hissed. "That is not very lady- like."  
  
Ino sighed and went slack, slowly gaining back her composure. "Very well, kul. If you don't mind, we will both be staying in this pueblo, awaiting Sasuke-kun's return."  
  
Shikamaru was about to interject that he did mind, but realized that it would do nothing but start another troublesome argument. Reluctantly, he nodded at the Sultanas who were already making themselves comfortable on the two empty mats. Cursing the black-haired kul for his apparent good looks, Shikamaru sat up in his bed, he would never be able to go back to sleep now.  
  
He really hoped the Uchiha came back soon from wherever he was. He was beginning to feel a headache.  
  
................................  
  
"You really suck at stealth, you know that, moron?"  
  
That deep, monotonous voice...it couldn't be! Naruto thought, quickly un- squinting his eyes from his previous feeling of pleasure and dreading the sight of the black-haired jerk staring back at him from the side of the pool which greeted him.  
  
Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin in fright, "Gyaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"  
  
Sasuke just stared back at him as though he was the biggest idiot in the world, but underneath the mask he was secretly albeit ashamedly enjoying the view. The blond looked incredibly enticing, with his tanned skin steaming and his face naturally flushed by the water's heat. Sasuke pushed himself to not notice these things, however. He couldn't have his control slip and a blush form on his pale cheeks while looking at Naruto now. He didn't want the kul to get the wrong idea – or the right idea, in this case.  
  
"What're you doing here? You...you..." Naruto stuttered, attempting to cover all of his most private parts. "Pervert!"  
  
Sasuke grimaced at the new nickname, but kept the same cold mask on his face. "I wanted to know why you have been avoiding me, idiot."  
  
Naruto squirmed, "Jerk! Did you have to ask me this in the bath?!"  
  
Sasuke gave him a look that told Naruto exactly what he thought of his intelligence. "I needed to get you alone."  
  
Naruto gaped at the other boy, suddenly feeling like a caged animal. I can't talk to him about this! Especially not here! That's why I was avoiding him in the first place! Naruto placed his hand on the side of the pool behind him, getting ready to spring. "What...what makes you think I've been avoiding you?!"  
  
Naruto actually grimaced at his own statement. That sounded so lame!  
  
Obviously Sasuke felt the same, because he was now sending the shorter kul a cold stare.  
  
"I mean..." Naruto wavered, feeling his skin heat up under the other's gaze. He couldn't think straight when Sasuke was looking at him in such a focused manner, especially when he was naked and the only thing between Sasuke and his nude flesh was a pool of clear, warm water.  
  
Sasuke smirked at the blonde's obvious discomfort. He was going to get some answers. "Stop avoiding the question."  
  
He began to make his way around the pool, smirking at the blond as he pushed himself against his side of the pool, cerulean eyes darting as though mapping out an escape.  
  
Sasuke smirked more. "Don't even think of escaping. You don't want me to see everything do you?"  
  
Naruto's eyes widened. "You...You can't!"  
  
"You know I can." Sasuke replied, darkly.  
  
"You really are a pervert!" Naruto gasped, as though he had just made a new discovery.  
  
Sasuke just ignored the comment and walked closer.  
  
Naruto panicked, refusing to put his other arm on the side of the pool in favor of using it to hide his lower half. The perverted jerk was right, there was no way he could escape, unless he was willing to show his all – sorta speak. If only there was a way for him to leave the bath without his clothes on, and still not show any part of his male anatomy...  
  
That was it! Naruto suddenly grinned at his own cleverness, causing the black-haired kul to waver slightly in his tracks. Naruto transformed that into a huge smile, directed straight at Sasuke, before he performed a seal with his hands underwater and cried out, "Sexy Sultana technique!"  
  
Sasuke allowed his surprise to show on his face, when the blond kul immediately transformed into a buxom blond girl. The girl smiled at him in a slightly mocking manner, pulling herself out of the bath in all of her naked glory and calmly walking over to fetch her towel and clothes before jumping out the window.  
  
Sasuke shook his head to dispel his shock at the whole ordeal, before he too jumped out of the window. He hadn't known Naruto could be so clever, but he wouldn't give up that easily. He wasn't about to allow the blond to avoid him forever!  
  
.............................  
  
Naruto almost tripped over his feet as he ran as fast as he could away from the bath houses. Not having enough time to put 'her' clothes back on, Naruto just flung the towel around 'her' waist and transformed back into himself.  
  
Finally, he stopped to take a breath against a large sand column, peering behind him for a certain raven-haired pervert. The corridor he had run down was eerily silent. Naruto was just about to let out a breath of relief, when the dreaded kul suddenly dropped down from a nearby roof and continued to run towards him.  
  
"Gaaaaaaahhhhh!" Naruto jumped and ran for all he was worth in the opposite direction. Somehow, in the back of his mind he knew that the jerk wouldn't give up that easily. He was as stubborn as...well...he was as stubborn as Naruto!  
  
Naruto weaved through a number of similar corridors before he hit a huge wall. Breathing heavily and feeling trapped, Naruto stared in horror at his fast approaching pursuer.  
  
"Give up, Naruto! You're trapped!" Sasuke yelled, barely breaking a sweat.  
  
"No way!" Naruto yelled back, unthinkingly punching a fist into the wall behind him.  
  
Naruto turned too late to realize that the wall around his fist had become liquid sand and was now pulling him in. Not again! Naruto thought, remembering when he had been sucked through a hole of quicksand upon his first time in the Palace.  
  
Naruto kicked the wall, which only caught his leg as well, making it so that half of his body was now consumed by the wall. "Aaargghhhh!"  
  
"Naruto, you idiot!" Sasuke yelled, finally coming to a stop in front of the blond.  
  
"Shut up, jerk!" Naruto responded on reflex.  
  
Sasuke made to grab Naruto's free hand, but Naruto pulled it away.  
  
"What are you doing, moron?" Sasuke asked, glaring at the blond with irritation.  
  
"Don't touch me, pervert!" Naruto spat. "I can help myself!"  
  
Suddenly, the entire wall lurched and engulfed Naruto entirely, leaving Sasuke to actually gape at the now hardened sand wall.  
  
Sasuke ran up to it and pounded the wall with both of fists. "Naruto! Naruto!"  
  
"Ughhh!"  
  
Sasuke stopped pounding and pressed his ear up against the wall, straining to hear.  
  
"Sasuke?" Naruto's confused voice carried to him from over the wall.  
  
Sasuke sighed both in relief and frustration at the idiot blond, who had obviously got himself sucked through the wall and onto the other side. "Hold on, Naruto. I'm coming over!"  
  
Sasuke didn't hear a reply so he used his chakra control to meld his feet to the wall and climbed over it. What he saw when he finally made it over did not make him a happy camper. Naruto was nowhere to be seen.  
  
Sasuke rolled his eyes in frustration and dropped down on the other side, surveying his surroundings. He noticed a bright piece of orange cloth ripped off on the side of a jagged building corner and smirked. He really does suck at stealth, the idiot.  
  
Naruto panted to a halt in the middle of a courtyard, smiling to himself for being able to escape the perverted jerk once again. He peered around him, making sure that he was totally alone, and then attempted to put on his pants. This was a mistake however, for the moment he looked down, a strong force landed on his back and brought him to the ground, face buried in the sand.  
  
"You don't intend to outfox me that easily, do you Naruto-kun?"  
  
Naruto-kun? Naruto stiffened and then shivered involuntarily at the deep voice in his ear and the breath he could still feel brush against his neck. This was definitely not good.  
  
"Get off of me pervert!" Naruto murmured weakly, trying his best to suppress the blood he could feel making its way to his face and...other areas.  
  
"No."  
  
"What do you want?" Naruto almost whimpered, a fact he was thoroughly enraged at himself for, and tried not to focus on the boy as he shifted positions on top of his back.  
  
"I told you." Sasuke breathed again, except this time lower, against the blond's bare shoulder. "Why have you been avoiding me, Naruto-kun?"  
  
Sasuke's breath was hot on his shoulder, which unpleasantly reminded Naruto that he still had no shirt on and no pants on, and really nothing to cover him up, except for a ragged towel around his waist. Naruto struggled more under Sasuke's weight, attempting to at least turn his body around so he could face the raven-haired kul, but he couldn't budge. Sasuke was stronger than the blond thought and it made Naruto feel more than a little pissed off.  
  
"I told you! I haven't been avoiding you, jerk! Now get o...unnnnn." Naruto's tirade was cut short by a moan which had escaped the back of his throat the moment he felt a warm tongue slide along his shoulder and up the side of his neck. What was the pervert trying to do to him?  
  
Sasuke's tongue finally stopped at the bottom of Naruto's ear lobe where he nipped gently instead, inciting another involuntary moan from the blonde. The black-haired kul smirked arrogantly, before he spoke again. "You have been avoiding me and I won't let you go until I know why."  
  
Naruto shivered in slight fear and anticipation at the dark promise held in the other kul's voice. Not seeing any way out, and disturbingly not really knowing if he wanted to find one, Naruto nodded slowly in acceptance and turned his head in an attempt to see the boy above him.  
  
"Good." Sasuke smirked and slowly released his bodyweight from the blonde's hips so that the boy could turn onto his back.  
  
Sasuke was pleased to see that the blonde's face was flushed and his eyes were still somewhat glazed. Proof that he affected the smaller boy, the same way Naruto affected him. Naruto stared up at him silently as Sasuke straddled his waist, as though he was suddenly having second thoughts about the agreement.  
  
Sasuke frowned a bit, then muttered, "Explain."  
  
Naruto suddenly looked away, his blue eyes unfocused at a point only he could see. He really didn't want to talk about it with Sasuke. He didn't want to admit it. It would make him look weak and immature. But then he felt fingertips caress his cheek before sliding down to his chin and gently pulling his face back towards the raven-haired kul. Sasuke looked down at him with his usual emotionless glare, but Naruto could detect something else – something very faint. It was a deep warmth; something Naruto had never experienced being directed at him. That gave him courage.  
  
"I...I was..." Naruto began stuttering and then let out an aggravated breath. "It was embarrassing, alright?"  
  
Sasuke just raised a fine eyebrow; it was as good as any question.  
  
"That kiss!" Naruto yelled in exasperation, expecting the jerk to be smarter than he was displaying. "The one we...shared...in that pueblo in front of that other kul! It was just so wrong!"  
  
Sasuke frowned at that. Was Naruto ashamed that he had kissed him? "It was wrong." Sasuke repeated, as though to himself.  
  
Suddenly seeing how his words could be taken incorrectly, Naruto replied frantically, "No...no...I didn't mean the kiss was wrong! I just meant that you letting it happen in front someone else was wrong!"  
  
"Idiot!" Sasuke snapped. "I told you I forgot he was in the room."  
  
Naruto face faulted and put his finger to his mouth as though in deep thought, something that looked like it was painful to Sasuke, before he lit up. "Oh yeah! You did say that! But I didn't believe you." Then he paused. "So, you really didn't remember he was there?"  
  
"Yes!" Sasuke groaned exasperatedly.  
  
"Okay! Okay!" Naruto smiled happily. "I just didn't think you could forget anything! My bad!"  
  
Sasuke glared coldly at the boy beneath him, but soon he found himself involuntarily warming up at the blonde's carefree smile created all for him.  
  
"Naruto." Sasuke murmured.  
  
"Yeah, jerk?" Naruto smiled questioningly.  
  
"There's no one around now." Sasuke mentioned suggestively.  
  
Naruto just gazed all around them. "Oh yeah." Then, "What's your point?"  
  
Sasuke just rolled his eyes in further irritation. Obviously he was going to have to spell it out for the moron.  
  
"My back is starting to hurt, Sasuke. Could you ge...mmppphhh!"  
  
Sasuke, not being able to take it anymore, took Naruto's lips with his own in a passionate kiss. This was by far, the best way to shut the noisy blond up.  
  
Sasuke felt a thrill go through him when the blond almost immediately responded to the kiss, moving his warm lips against Sasuke's and trailing his small hands up Sasuke's arms and down his shirt covered shoulder blades.  
  
Naruto moaned when Sasuke deepened the kiss and moved one hand down Naruto's bare chest until it rested on his stomach, sending tingling shivers throughout Naruto's body.  
  
Sasuke released Naruto's lips from his own, breathing heavily and drawing a slight whimper from the blonde, before trailing them down Naruto's jaw and onto his neck, suckling lightly at the flushed flesh.  
  
Naruto couldn't believe his neck was so sensitive to Sasuke's ministrations as his mind was slowly clouded by shockwaves of pleasure, which were beginning to bring more blood to his lower regions. He was sure he would have felt a little overwhelmed or even a little bit frightened of the sensations Sasuke was evoking in him, if he hadn't felt so drugged by the contact.  
  
Sasuke smirked against Naruto's heated skin and then lowered his mouth to suckle one of the blonde's nipples. Naruto immediately moaned loudly, feeling his nipple harden at the sensation of Sasuke's hot tongue massaging it. The pleasurable reaction shot through Naruto, making him pant harder in search of much needed oxygen.  
  
"Sasuke..." Naruto panted. "What're you..."  
  
Sasuke instantly covered Naruto's mouth with his own, effectively ending the questions. Naruto complied, completely forgetting what he was talking about or even how to speak in the first place.  
  
Naruto was just beginning to wonder how far Sasuke would go with him, when an unfamiliar voice met his ears.  
  
"Sasuke-kun! What're you doing with that kul?!"  
  
Oh my God! Not again! Naruto thought, within his hazy mind.  
  
Sasuke broke the kiss and stiffened, gazing down at Naruto's flushed face and panting lips, before he slid his gaze towards the new voice. As he had expected, there stood the two Sultanas, both staring at him with a combination of shock and awe.  
  
Sasuke's gaze hardened into a cold glare directed at the two Sultanas, but he did not move from his position on top of Naruto.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
Sakura's mouth opened and closed, making her look somewhat like a fish out of water before asking shakily, "We have come to ask to be your brides."  
  
Both Sakura and Ino flinched at the mere idea of the statement after it was spoken. After what they had seen, neither knew if they really were still attracted to the mysterious, raven-haired kul. He looked so right in that intimate position with the other kul, it was hard to imagine him with anyone else.  
  
"Obviously, that's not going to happen." Sasuke's frown deepened. "I would think you two would know when to quit."  
  
Both Sultanas nodded sullenly, not knowing what to say and feeling it dangerous to say anything more under the pale boy's cold gaze. Both turned to leave with dark thoughts. Now thanks to their father, they were trapped within a situation that had just gotten a lot worse. The kul they sought had rejected them with his actions and his words and, in a way, their hearts had rejected him in turn. Unless they were able to find at least one other consenting kul, the two beautiful Sultanas were officially screwed.  
  
With one last solemn glance behind them, they disappeared into the Palace.  
  
Sasuke watched the girls until they were out of sight and was just about to turn his attention back to Naruto, when movement in a pueblo doorway caught his attention.  
  
Sasuke realized who created the movement with growing irritation and dread.  
  
Obviously, Naruto had finally come out of his dazed stupor, and had noticed the other person's presence as well, because he began to squirm uncomfortably and exclaimed, "Shikamaru!"  
  
"Uh...hey guys." Shikamaru stuttered, moving one hand behind his ponytail. "So, you two do swing that way!"  
  
Naruto 'eeped', turning as red as a tomato, and Sasuke shot Shikamaru one of his most threatening glares.  
  
"Right...well..." Shikamaru continued, smiling tightly. "I see that you two are busy doing...things...with each other. So I won't bother you further. By all means go at it. I'm going back inside, I think I feel another headache coming on."  
  
Once Shikamaru disappeared back into the darkness of the pueblo, Sasuke gazed down at Naruto to see him looking expectedly red in the face.  
  
"It happened AGAIN!" Naruto practically whined. "God must truly be plotting against me."  
  
Sasuke grimaced at his own stupidity. He should have thought to check exactly which courtyard they were in before he gave into his desires for the small blonde kul. It just had to be the self-same courtyard in front of their own pueblo.  
  
"I'm never going to be able to enter our pueblo again!" Naruto pouted, covering his red face in his hands.  
  
Sasuke slowly got off of the other boy and then gently removed his hands. He was never very good at comforting anyone, but the look on the other boy's face was just too much. Sasuke gave the devastated boy a quick peck on the lips before he muttered, "Don't worry, Naruto-kun. It...will be all right."  
  
Naruto looked up at Sasuke with watery eyes that slowly reflected disbelief. "Who are you and what did you do with Sasuke?"  
  
Sasuke swiftly clipped the blond about the head with his palm.  
  
"Ouch!"  
  
"Moron." Sasuke muttered, standing up and lending his hand to Naruto.  
  
Naruto slapped it away and got up himself, but still smiled brightly back at him. "Jerk."  
  
Sasuke's eyes glinted for a moment. "Hurry up and get back into your clothes. You don't want to catch a cold."  
  
Naruto automatically reddened at the reminder of his barely clad state and he hastily did as he was told, before he followed Sasuke reluctantly back into their pueblo.  
  
...............................  
  
Kakashi frowned as he glanced over a ridge and spotted a large group of warriors assembling in a ravine.  
  
"Is that him?" Gai muttered beside him, staring at one of the more powerful warriors in the crowd.  
  
Kakashi sighed, "Yes. His eyes are unmistakable."  
  
"We must go back and report this to the Sultan." Asuma muttered from Kakashi's other side. "This will most likely coalesce into a large attack force."  
  
"Hm." Kakashi shoved his hands into his pockets. "Let's just hope our preparations will not be too late."  
  
Both Asuma and Gai nodded, and then they all vanished into clouds of sand.  
  
AN: (1) Actually, at around the 1500s, most girls in the Ottoman Empire – and in many other parts of the world – married when they were aged at around thirteen years old (Mary, mother of Jesus Christ, was said to be 13 when she gave birth to him). But for this story, I felt it would make you and me feel more at ease if they were a bit older. While 16 still seems a bit young for some, it's still better than 13, ne?  
  
(2) I know what you're saying, 'boxers? In the 1500s?' I know, they didn't exist, but I really wanted to refrain from saying that he 'took off his butt-flap' or some such thing. You can thank me later.  
  
Whoopah! Let the Sasunaru lovin' commence! I was a lot happier with this chapter than the previous one with respect to the love department, it felt a 'little' more in character. Of course, how in character can these two be when they are placed into such an out of character situation? That's really what makes this story so difficult. Oh well, just as long as their attraction seems believable...blah.  
  
Poor Sakura and Ino, huh? Yes, I did this to them, but it's because I wanted them to seem like they had hearts. Humanity is painful, when you are no longer a bitch. But don't worry, they will find their men! I mean, they have to right? Or else they're dead....right? Well, you'll see.  
  
And of course, many of you can probably guess who is coming to join the party. I'll give those of you who are a little slow one hint: Fan. You got it? Good. He he...he'll be fun to write. 


	11. And the Real Training Begins

AN: I don't own Naruto...but I do know the guy who does. Cough-Kishimoto- Cough.  
  
Chapter 10  
And the Real Training Begins  
  
Naruto awoke sleepily to the sound of a steady heart beat and the rise and fall of something soft and warm beneath his cheek. Before the oddity of these observations fully sank in, Naruto snuggled into his warm, moving pillow and let out a contented sigh, eyes closed in pleasure.  
  
Almost immediately following the movement, something warm and hard wrapped around his waste and pulled him closer against his 'pillow'.  
  
Wait...what...?  
  
Naruto's eyes snapped open and panicked at the sight of a creamy shoulder slightly covered by midnight locks. The sun had already risen enough to shed its rays through the pueblo window and washed everything in the room with a golden glow.  
  
Black hair...not my shoulder... Sasuke?  
  
Naruto blushed deeply at the discovery, unconsciously burrowing his face into the crook of Sasuke's neck, as if he could hide from the situation.  
  
Just how have I gotten here in the first place? Naruto wondered, wracking his brains for memories of the night before.  
  
He remembered trailing back into the pueblo behind Sasuke...after that incredibly embarrassing incident in the courtyard. He remembered to his dismay that Kiba and Choji were already back in the pueblo as well, talking to Shikamaru in low voices and occasionally glancing at him and Sasuke. Sasuke had glared at the kuls until they went silent and averted their eyes.  
  
Naruto had been almost relieved Sasuke had done that. He didn't think he could take the looks. He was used to glares – those he could handle. But these had been gazes of complete fascination and wonder, as though Naruto had suddenly become some sort of four humped camel. He didn't like it. It was really uncomfortable. But little did he know at the time that Sasuke was just about to add to his discomfort.  
  
Naruto had made his way over to his mat, thinking it best to just sleep early and avoid dealing with everything, when he felt Sasuke's gaze practically burning a hole in his back. Naruto had turned around, as though verbally commanded, to see the black haired kul sitting on his own mat, hand resting on an empty spot beside him, and looking back at the blond expectantly.  
  
Naruto had stared at Sasuke in confusion, then understanding, and finally shock. The jerk couldn't possibly have wanted what Naruto thought he wanted. Naruto had stared a bit longer and then turned his back on the other kul, readying his mat to sleep in.  
  
He felt that hole in his back burn a little hotter before...  
  
"Naruto."  
  
Naruto had looked over his shoulder only slightly and stopped moving to indicate he was listening. All the while, in his head, he was obstinately refusing to do what the kul was surely going to ask him to do.  
  
"Sleep with me."  
  
Naruto winced and colored all at once as the rest of the pueblo went silent. He could now feel three other gazes locked on him, as though awaiting his answer. He hadn't expected the jerk to word his request in such a forward manner. Didn't he have any tact? Did he want Naruto to practically go insane with embarrassment? Maybe he was enjoying it!  
  
That last thought had Naruto flaring with rage. He wasn't going to let Sasuke torment him!  
  
"NO!"  
  
Sasuke's eyes had widened a bit at the force behind the blond's shouted answer, and Naruto had smiled slightly at the dark haired kul's reaction. He wasn't going to let the jerk walk all over him.  
  
"Naruto..." Sasuke had ground out, sending Naruto his warning glare.  
  
Naruto turned around fully and crossed his arms, in what he hoped was a show of strength. "I said no, jerk!"  
  
Sasuke's frown had deepened, but he kept his gaze locked with Naruto's.  
  
Naruto had begun to feel more and more uncomfortable as the black haired kul said nothing. He had shifted his weight unconsciously from toe to toe, willing himself not to glance over at the three other kuls who were surely watching him with rapt attention. Sasuke hadn't even seemed to notice the other three at all. How could he ignore them like that? Didn't he care that they could see? That they could hear what Sasuke had said? Wasn't he embarrassed at ALL?  
  
Suddenly, Sasuke stood up and stepped forward so that he was standing only inches away from him, staring down at Naruto blankly. He brought his hand up and Naruto felt the fingers lightly graze his cheek. Naruto panicked, but he wouldn't back down.  
  
Then Sasuke had brought his face closer.  
  
"Sasuke...what're you...?" Naruto had squeaked, cerulean eyes widening in shock.  
  
Sasuke had brought a finger up between them and then placed it against his own lips. "Be quiet Naruto-kun."  
  
Naruto had just stared back at him apprehensively and didn't say anything more.  
  
Sasuke had smirked at that, almost making Naruto pissed off again, before he murmured, "Won't you join me on my mat, Naruto-kun? I want to sleep with you."  
  
Naruto felt his breath catch at the look in Sasuke's eyes, before he frowned slightly. "What do you mean, 'sleep with you'?"  
  
This time, Sasuke had actually smiled – a true genuine smile – before replying. "Only to do with me what you usually do alone; Sleep."  
  
Naruto had eyed him distrustfully for a few moments, before he nodded slowly and blushed even more.  
  
The whole pueblo had burst into applause and hoots. Naruto had stared at the others in surprise and smiled nervously back at Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji who were all grinning widely before joining Sasuke...on his mat.  
  
Once Naruto had finally found a comfortable position against Sasuke's chest – which he tried hard not to think about – it had been astonishingly easy for him to calm down. All he had to do was close his eyes and push away his embarrassment before the sound of Sasuke's steady breathing lulled him to sleep.  
  
Reawakened from his memories, Naruto brought his head up a bit to gaze at the raven-haired kul below him. His features were calm and relaxed, bathed in sunlight. He actually looked beautiful, if a boy could be described that way.  
  
Naruto's eyes slid to his slightly parted lips and blushed a bit at the images those benign features evoked. He felt an overwhelming need to taste them again.  
  
Gazing around the room and noticing that everyone else had already left then at the kul below him to make sure no one would notice, Naruto inched up a bit and planted his lips gently against Sasuke's. Relaxing when Sasuke didn't move, Naruto applied a bit more pressure as his mouth curled into a small smile. He would never admit it out loud, but he thought Sasuke tasted good.  
  
Almost a little too good.  
  
"Yo."  
  
Naruto's lips immediately turned down into a frown and he ripped them from Sasuke's, turning his head to stare at his visitor in pure horror.  
  
"Gen...General...Kakashi?!"  
  
Kakashi just smiled down at him serenely from behind his mask. "I see I've missed a lot."  
  
Naruto opened and closed his mouth, suddenly unable to find his voice.  
  
"Is your top secret spy mission over?"  
  
Naruto's eyes widened, that wasn't his voice and it sure as hell wasn't the General's.  
  
Sasuke was now awake, as though he hadn't even been asleep moments before, and was in the process of sitting up a bit and pulling Naruto up against his chest along with him.  
  
"Yes, Sasuke." The General replied calmly, as though they were both carrying a conversation in a normal public space like the Bazaar. "But the objective has yet to be fully carried out."  
  
"Who is the objective?" Sasuke asked seriously while wrapping his arm more securely around Naruto's waist.  
  
"A powerful rogue warrior." Kakashi murmured. "He has amassed a great army and he is on his way to the Palace."  
  
Naruto who, up until now, had been glaring fiercely at Sasuke for not letting him go, was now forgetting his embarrassment to stare at Kakashi openly. "There's an army coming here?!"  
  
"Yes, Naruto." General Kakashi's smile widened as Naruto absently took hold of Sasuke's other hand. So much had changed since he had been here last; Not that he hadn't seen it coming. "I need to train you kuls seriously now. We will all have to fight and protect the Sultan from the invaders."  
  
Naruto clenched the fist which held Sasuke's hand, but Sasuke kept himself from wincing. Naruto was clearly anxious and so was he. "How long do we have?"  
  
"A week at best, four days at worst." Kakashi turned around to leave and then added. "Get dressed you two, training starts now."  
  
Naruto scowled at the General's retreating back. He already had his boxers, pants, and undershirt on and Sasuke only had his shirt off. The General made it sound like they were naked, the pervert!  
  
"Come on, Naruto." Sasuke muttered into his ear. "We don't want to be late."  
  
"Yeah." Naruto replied, getting up when Sasuke finally released him and stretching.  
  
He could already tell this was going to be a long day.  
  
...............................  
  
Naruto trudged behind Sasuke past their pueblo's courtyard and through many familiar corridors before he finally saw the courtyard where they were to meet Kakashi.  
  
Naruto's eyes widened as he exited the final corridor and was fully bathed in the harsh sun. Not only was the courtyard huge, it was also full of kuls – young and old. Naruto had never seen so many kuls all in one place and he began to wonder why he hadn't seen them before. Were the kapikulli living quarters really that big?  
  
Sasuke entered the crowd and Naruto followed, scanning the milling kuls and trying to place a familiar face. He frowned when he didn't recognize anyone.  
  
Suddenly, a hand jutted out from within a group of kuls and grabbed Naruto's shoulder. Naruto almost jumped with alarm, before he recognized who the hand belonged to. He could never forget the distinctive bushy eyebrows.  
  
"Rock Lee?" Naruto halted and turned towards the kul, happy to see someone even remotely familiar.  
  
"Hi Naruto!" Rock smiled sincerely. "I see you're completely healed now!"  
  
Naruto blushed at the offhand remark, which brought unwanted and embarrassing memories, but he soon brushed that aside. "heh, yeah. Thanks for that."  
  
"Oh, no problem." Rock grinned. "Oh here," Rock gestured to the two kuls standing behind him. "Let me introduce you to my teammates! This is Neji and this is Shino."  
  
Naruto glanced at the kuls in slight apprehension, but made sure to paste a huge smile on his face. The one called Neji looked arrogant and detached, reminding Naruto vaguely of a certain black haired jerk. The one called Shino was less intimidating, but still a little creepy looking with most of his face covered by the top of his loose shirt. "Er...hi!"  
  
Neji just stared back at him in indifference and Shino nodded solemnly. Naruto suddenly felt like he was at a funeral.  
  
Rock Lee either didn't notice his teammates' odd behavior or he chose to ignore it, because he smiled warmly and continued. "Neji and Shino are both on my team. We were all promoted for our previous fighting skills!"  
  
Naruto smiled back, but inwardly winced at the bushy eye browed kul's glittering smile and thumbs up sign which he automatically ended his proclamation with. Naruto concluded that while nice, Rock Lee was really disturbing.  
  
Suddenly, Naruto felt a hand grip his shoulder and looked back to see Sasuke looking at him emotionlessly.  
  
"I've found Kakashi." Came the monotonous reply, to Naruto's unspoken question.  
  
"Oh, Sasuke!" Rock Lee smiled again, noticing the new arrival. "Let me introduce you to..."  
  
Sasuke eyed Rock Lee and then the two kuls beside him, before he muttered, "No thanks." And pulled Naruto away by the arm.  
  
"Well, okay then," Naruto mumbled helplessly before calling back to Rock with an apologetic look. "See ya later!"  
  
Naruto had the chance to see Rock Lee wave back before he and Sasuke were engulfed within the crowd again.  
  
Finally, after what seemed like hours, both he and Sasuke broke through the teeming masses into a little clearing occupied by who Naruto recognized to be General Kakashi, Shikamaru, Kiba, Choji, and ...  
  
"Chichi-ue?!" Naruto gasped and then ran for his father, who was standing beside Kakashi and smiling softly, unconsciously pulling Sasuke along with him by the hand.  
  
Naruto finally halted in front of his father, panting, and spluttered, "Chichi-ue! What're you doing here?"  
  
Iruka's smile widened when he spotted his son's hand clutched within another's, causing Naruto to unceremoniously drop the offending hand when he noticed the look. "Nice to see you too, Naruto."  
  
Naruto finally got over his surprise and laughed in joy as though he had just been told he had received a year's supply of Ramen.  
  
Iruka cocked his head and then glanced over at Kakashi. "Hey General Kakashi, you were right. My little Naruto does swing that way."  
  
"Yep." Kakashi replied through his mask. "I knew those two wouldn't be able to keep their hands off of each other eventually."  
  
Naruto stopped laughing and for the millionth time that day, became beet red at the insinuation. He was getting tired of this.  
  
Naruto noticed that Sasuke must have felt the same way, because he could see the black haired kul from the corner of his eye sending Kakashi one of his coldest glares.  
  
Iruka noticed the sudden tension and whacked General Kakashi on the shoulder, making everyone's eye brows shoot up in astonishment. "Don't be such a pervert in front of my son, Kakashi."  
  
Naruto gaped. Did his father just...slap a royal General? Wasn't there some kind of law against that?  
  
Naruto's confusion continued with General Kakashi's reaction.  
  
"Just having a little harmless fun," Kakashi replied good-naturedly, rubbing his shoulder and adding. "Iruka-kun."  
  
Finally, Naruto closed his mouth and cried out in utter befuddlement, "Did I miss something?!"  
  
"No," Shikamaru muttered from his right while leaning against a sand pillar. "I don't think you missed anything, unfortunately."  
  
"If anything," Kiba added. "We've all gotten too much."  
  
Naruto didn't understand what they meant and only became more confused until his brain hurt. "What?"  
  
Iruka smiled down at him with slight exasperation. "You'll get it when you're older, Naruto."  
  
Huh? Naruto glanced over at Sasuke to see if he could explain, but the raven-haired kul was avoiding his gaze and frowning at nothing in particular.  
  
"Fine!" Naruto cried out in frustration at being kept out of the loop. "I don't want to know anyway!"  
  
He was just about to stomp off in a random direction to demonstrate his anger with the group when a loud booming voice reached his ears from the other side of the courtyard. Naruto turned in the direction of the voice as everyone around him did the same, all straining to see who the originator of it was.  
  
"Allah praise the Great Sultan of the Ottoman Empire!"  
  
Naruto looked up into an ornate balcony and finally saw the source of the booming voice. It was a royal janisserie dressed all in black with only his eyes showing, reading from a tablet and standing in the middle of the balcony. The entire crowd of kuls was staring at him now in silence, waiting to hear what he had to say.  
  
"All hail your Sultan who will honor you all with his presence and his words!"  
  
Naruto squinted and watched as the janisserie stepped back from the balcony and became hidden within the shadows of the archway behind him, before a large, white haired man in ornate robes took his place.  
  
Naruto's eyes widened. He knew that guy...  
  
Suddenly, like a wave, the kuls in the courtyard bowed in Islamic fashion, touching their foreheads to the floor in respect. Naruto, who had been oblivious to the action because of his thoughts, was immediately pushed down from behind until he too was in the same position.  
  
Naruto dropped beside Sasuke and turned his head a bit to face him from the side. "Sasuke!"  
  
"What?" Sasuke muttered back.  
  
"I know that guy!"  
  
"Well you should," Sasuke whispered, forehead still obediently against the ground. "He's our Sultan."  
  
"What?" Naruto gasped, forgetting to keep his voice down. "That guy's a pervert! He practically molested me AFTER he was peeping at naked women in the baths!"  
  
Sasuke tensed a bit. "He molested you?"  
  
"Yeah, when I used my Sexy Sultana technique. He's a womanizer!"  
  
Sasuke finally tilted his head to stare back at Naruto in unabashed confusion. "What?"  
  
"He's a perverted geezer!" Naruto exclaimed, surprised that the intelligent Sasuke wasn't getting what he was telling him.  
  
"No, before that." Sasuke ground out. "Were you a woman when he touched you?"  
  
"Yeah, that's what I said." Naruto began to speak slowly, as though he was explaining things to a two year old. "I used my Sexy Sultana technique and then he groped me in my female form!"  
  
Naruto and Sasuke finally stood back up as every other kul had done and Sasuke stared at Naruto as though trying to decide which of his thoughts to voice first. "Why did you transform yourself into a woman?"  
  
Naruto flushed a bit, realizing he didn't really have a good reason. "I thought it would be fun."  
  
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but decided not to voice his opinion, opting to inquire upon more important issues. "And then the Sultan molested you – After he peeped on a group of naked women bathing?"  
  
Naruto nodded.  
  
Sasuke let out a suffering sigh. "I wouldn't put it past him."  
  
Naruto looked over at him curiously, "Why? What'd he do to you?"  
  
Sasuke eyed him for a moment, before replying monotonously, "He ordered me to be his personal scribe so that he could whore me out to his daughters."  
  
"Huh?" Naruto blinked.  
  
"You saw me during one of my last 'meetings' with them, in the garden." Sasuke continued, gazing at him now.  
  
Naruto's mouth twitched and then it finally broke out into a huge smile that threatened to split his face in half, before he finally couldn't contain it anymore and he burst out laughing.  
  
Sasuke glared at the blond's reaction. "It's not funny."  
  
Naruto attempted to compose himself, he really did, but something about Sasuke being a prostitute was just too funny. He only laughed harder, completely forgetting that the Sultan was about to speak – before he did.  
  
"My brave and beloved kapikullis!" The Sultan's voice projected over his audience, causing Naruto to finally clamp his mouth shut. "Allah has blessed me with your loyalty – ("loyalty?" Shikamaru muttered with a snort. "We're his slaves. We can't help but be loyal.") – and your discipline and now it is time to bring your true qualities as warriors to the ultimate test!"  
  
The crowd was so silent, it would have been possible to hear a drop of water sizzle on the desert ground.  
  
The Sultan paused and gazed out at the massed kuls from left to right before continuing. "There is a new threat to this Empire making his way towards this Great City and he will not stop until he crushes the backbone of this blessed pillar of Allah on Earth. It is time for you all to train hard so that you can protect your people when the time comes!"  
  
The Sultan moved over slightly on the balcony and a blond woman took his old spot.  
  
Naruto's eyes widened again in recognition, but this time he kept his mouth shut.  
  
"The Valide Sultan," The White-haired Sultan continued, gesturing to his first wife. "Will now explain parts of this capital city that will need to be guarded and protected when the time comes."  
  
The Valide Sultan nodded and then projected her own voice. "This city is divided into several districts, each housing many Ottoman people and providing essential services. It is my main concern, as the Valide Sultan, to watch over the handling of resources and public works projects within these districts so that every citizen can receive what they need (1). It is very important that each and every one of you understands the most necessary parts of the city to defend in order to ensure the peoples' survival. Each of you will be assigned guarding placements within the city when the invasion is about to begin. It will be up to your Generals to inform you on these hotspots and how to defend them before you are assigned."  
  
The Valide Sultan stepped back and the Sultan took her place again. "This fight will not be easy, but I have faith in my magnificent kapikullis and janisseries, and in Allah that we will be victorious in the end."  
  
Suddenly, a large group of children moved out onto the balcony behind the Sultan and he gestured to them. "My family has faith in all of you as well."  
  
Naruto recognized the two girls in front of the group as the Sultanas, Sakura and Ino. They looked more somber than he had ever seen them and he felt himself feeling a little sad, yet not really understanding why.  
  
The Sultan smiled and then gestured to a red-headed boy in front. The boy stepped forward. "For your first line of training, you must all attempt to beat my grandson, Gaara son of the late Caliph of this city. If you can be victorious against him, you can survive against every foe you come across."  
  
Naruto raised his eye brows at that and noticed that Sasuke had tensed beside him. Even Naruto could tell that this Gaara was powerful – he exuded it just by standing there on that balcony – but he had a feeling that Sasuke was more familiar with the red-head than he previously let on.  
  
This Gaara must have been very strong to make the Uchiha tense at the news of a future battle against him. Then Naruto smirked, he wasn't going to be scared at all. This was a chance for him to prove his strength...to Sasuke and to everyone else.  
  
"Let the Battle begin!" The Sultan's voice echoed across the courtyard and against the surrounding stone walls.  
  
Bring it on.  
  
Naruto cracked his knuckles and smiled.  
  
...............................  
  
Blood red eyes scanned the sand dunes which cropped up for miles around, successfully engulfing all forms of life attempting to survive upon their white grained shores. The man behind the eyes smiled at the thought.  
  
"Itachi-sama."  
  
Uchiha Itachi glanced back at the bowing warrior behind him.  
  
"My contacts have recently informed me that the Sultan is preparing his janisseries and kapikullis for an invasion."  
  
"Hn." Itachi switched his gaze back out upon the endless waves of sand. "He must know we are coming."  
  
"Yes, Itachi-sama." The warrior bowed again.  
  
"Good."  
  
Suddenly, the sand of the desert was pulled up into a fierce desert storm, completely changing the shape of the dunes and covering the old sand with the new. All the while a dark man stood against the wind, smiling at the continual nothingness.  
  
..............................  
  
AN: (1) actually, this is completely true. The Valide Sultan was charged with commandeering all public works and bureaucratic entities of the cities. She made sure that the water flowed, the bathhouses operated, the roads were kept clean, and new buildings were built to code. She had a lot of power for a woman in the 1500s.  
  
Yay! More SasuNaru and in comes Itachi!  
  
And a hint of Kakashi and Iruka....heh...poor Naruto. But that's all this fic will contain, just a hint nothing more.  
  
I'm sorry I have taken so darn-diddly long to update...I have just started summer school. Dun Dun Dun! Actually, it's not that bad. I get to learn Photoshop and Flash! Whoohoo!  
  
I have already thought up the ending to this story in its entirety, so I can safely say that I WILL finish the fic, even if it kills me! There should be roughly 3 more chapters until the end. The ending is sooooo cool in my head...if only it could just write itself. Oh well, I like writing – I think.  
  
Also, thank you to all my reviewers who have decided to waste their time on me!  
  
Double thanks to Yasha-sama who wrote the most wonderful review. I loved your thoughts. You had me smiling all day! Yays.  
  
Kay...till next chapter then...hope I finish that sooner than this one! Cross your fingers... 


	12. The Consequences of Power

AN: I don't own Naruto....erm....yeah.  
  
Chapter 11  
The Consequences of Power  
  
"Let the battle begin!" The Sultan bellowed and gestured to his grandson, who immediately dropped from the ornate balcony into the middle of the crowd of kuls.  
  
The kuls nearest him tensed and automatically, like a ripple in calm waters, jumped back from Gaara's position – leaving a ten foot radius of open space around him.  
  
Naruto could feel Sasuke tense beside him as the red headed boy calmly closed his eyes and held up his open hands within the open circle. Everyone watched in apprehension as the boy just stayed in that position for long moments, before his eyes snapped open and locked on the kul right in front of him.  
  
Then all hell broke loose.  
  
With a loud pop, the large sand plug in the barrel on the red head's back flew off and sand poured out of the gourd as though it was a living thing. Before any of the surrounding kuls could react, the growing flow of sand lashed out around the red head and wrapped itself onto all of the nearest kuls' limbs, effectively pulling them to the ground.  
  
Naruto watched in slight horror as many of the incapacitated kuls struggled to fight the hold of the sand off. The red head simply stared at them all expressionlessly and clamped his hands shut. Suddenly, the air was wrought with screams of raw pain and Naruto felt a distinct sense of nausea fill him at the sight. The hardened sand holding the kuls' limbs had literally collapsed into itself, breaking the flesh within its hold and spraying blood from the now disfigured limbs in all directions.  
  
Finally, when the cries diminished, the red head blinked and the sand retracted, creating a floating shield behind his back. He gazed around him, unmoving, as though calculating his next attack.  
  
Naruto's mouth had gone dry and he gulped, suddenly feeling his previous confidence seep out of him along with the sweat from his pores. He had no idea what type of technique the red headed warrior was wielding, but it was deadly. Naruto didn't know if he could match it. Most of the kuls that had just been so easily crippled were older than Naruto and undoubtedly more experienced. Naruto knew he hadn't had enough training for this, he was too inexperienced.  
  
He glanced over at Sasuke standing tensely beside him then at Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, and his father who were all standing in much the same way a few feet back. Naruto doubted that any of them were experienced enough either.  
  
They could never beat such a monster at their current level, couldn't the Sultan see that? Couldn't anyone see that?  
  
Naruto was pulled from his dark thoughts when another chorus of screams ripped through the air. Five more kuls had joined the first ten on the ground, holding their smashed limbs and moaning.  
  
The sand retracted yet again, but the red head didn't pause this time, immediately darting through the crowd of fearful kuls and grabbing hold of them with his monstrous sand. Loud cracks sounded from broken arm bones and leg bones, accompanying the screams.  
  
Naruto stepped back in terror, until his back hit a wall and he could go no further.  
  
Many kuls had jumped in to attack the red head, only to meet the same fates as their companions, while others attempted to run away from the boy in fear – but to no avail. Each and every one of the kuls the red head came across was subjected to the same fate. No matter what they did or how strong they were, Gaara rendered them helpless as newborns.  
  
Naruto's fear tripled and he trembled against the wall, attempting to tear his gaze away from the bloodshed, but failing. He could feel a wave of dizziness wash over him and his eyes glazed. This was too much.  
  
"Naruto!"  
  
Naruto's eyes snapped back into clarity to see Sasuke staring back at him from over his shoulder, body still tense and on guard. Naruto locked his gaze with Sasuke's, unable to erase the remnants of fear from his eyes.  
  
Sasuke still stared at him expressionlessly, "Naruto, what are you doing?"  
  
"I...I..." Naruto stuttered, eyes darting from Sasuke to the atrocities up ahead and back. "I...can't..."  
  
Sasuke's mouth turned into a frown and his gaze hardened a bit, before he glanced back at the red head to mark his progress and stated monotonously, "Yes, you can."  
  
Naruto's eyes widened. What was the raven haired kul saying? Didn't Sasuke see what they were up against? Wasn't he afraid as well? What could they do against such a monster? He left no openings goddammit! No one had been able to even touch him so far! Didn't he see that? Why was he being so stupidly courageous?!  
  
Naruto watched as another twenty bodies hit the ground, splashing against their own blood. The monster was coming closer, with every body that fell, he was coming nearer. He didn't want that to happen to him, he didn't want that to happen to...  
  
"Chichi-ue!" Naruto cried out in spite of himself, as he watched his father attempt to attack Gaara from behind. The monster turned around and his sand created a shield just in time, before he sent it to splinter through Iruka's arms and legs and push him roughly against a wall.  
  
"AAAaaaaaaggggggghhhhhhhh!"  
  
"Chichi-ue! NOOOO!" Naruto yelled, letting the rage within him bury his overwhelming terror as he watched his father slide listlessly down the wall, staining it with his blood. Feeling his adrenaline pump strongly through his veins, Naruto forgot his trembling limbs and jumped off of the wall on a straight course for his father.  
  
Yet, before he could get far, a hand snapped out and grabbed his upper arm harshly, pulling him back against a warm chest.  
  
"Naruto!" A low voice rushed into his ear, causing the blonde to wince slightly at the loudness and close proximity.  
  
"Sasuke – jerk! Let me go! I need to..." Naruto cried, struggling against the grip.  
  
The grip tightened. "You need to what, Naruto?" The voice was softer now, but still warning. "What are you going to do?"  
  
"I don't know!" Naruto yelled back, frustrated at his inability to get free. "I'll think about it when I get there! Let go!"  
  
"No." Was the calm reply.  
  
"Jerk! My father...I need to help my father!" Naruto's cry turned into a whine, as he struggled even more.  
  
"I'm not going to let you get hurt, Naruto."  
  
Naruto suddenly stopped struggling and finally turned his head to see the other boy behind him, who was staring down at him solemnly. The words were said with such conviction and emotion – something he didn't know the raven haired kul was even capable of.  
  
Naruto went lax and then smiled bitterly, whispering, "I thought you said I could do it."  
  
"You can." Sasuke answered and turned his gaze towards Gaara and his next victims. "Just not like this. It's stupid to do it alone."  
  
Naruto allowed himself to let the words sink in and he realized ashamedly that Sasuke was right. He couldn't win against that monster alone. It just couldn't be done.  
  
Naruto sighed then. "What should we do?"  
  
"Watch his movements and wait for him to come to us." Sasuke replied simply, releasing Naruto from his firm grip and allowing the blonde to take a place beside him.  
  
Naruto clenched his fists when another twenty kuls were successfully rendered immobile and then nodded. His father would have to wait; besides, Gaara wasn't attacking him anymore. There was no need to intervene...  
  
Yet.  
  
..........................  
  
Shikamaru grimaced when their powerful enemy disposed of yet another group of kuls between him and where Kiba, Choji and he were positioned.  
  
He glanced at Kiba who was tensed into a crouch beside him and watched the proceedings wide-eyed. Choji was the same on his other side, not even bothering to eat from his uncannily replenishing bags of pork bites. That was unusual, but of course, Shikamaru reasoned, their foe was unusually strong.  
  
"We need a plan." Shikamaru muttered, as though to himself.  
  
"But what can we do?" Kiba asked, not even gracing him with a glance.  
  
Shikamaru frowned, eyeing Gaara as he completely neutralized fresh attacks from thirty different kuls and then mercilessly crushed all of their limbs.  
  
"His attacks are redundant." Choji murmured. "If there wasn't so much blood and screaming, I'd be bored by now."  
  
Shikamaru sighed. "He performs the same technique because it works. He has no need to do anything fancy. He's too advanced for us. There is too big a discrepancy."  
  
"Well, that's obvious." Kiba stated, while Akamaru growled from atop his shoulder.  
  
Shikamaru didn't comment further. He was too busy thinking. The red head was getting closer with every group he attacked and Shikamaru still had no idea how he could escape the same fate. It was unnerving.  
  
He knew he could always perform the shadow binding technique, but he had a feeling the effect wouldn't be fast enough. The sand which Gaara controlled seemed to be of a separate consciousness, making it possible for it to attack Gaara's foes while Gaara kept his attention elsewhere. This simple characteristic made his defenses practically invincible and fast. None of the previously attacking kuls even had the time to perform techniques before they were crippled by the sand. So far it looked like attacking was futile.  
  
Suddenly, Kiba stood up and tensed, a low growl emanating from the back of his throat. "Get up, you guys. He's about to come at us."  
  
So much for a plan, Shikamaru thought, standing as well to greet Gaara as the red head walked calmly towards them.  
  
Feeling he had nothing to lose, Shikamaru attempted to perform his technique, but as was expected, Gaara's sand was already lashing out towards him at an inconceivable speed. Shikamaru grimaced and closed his eyes, knowing that this was it for him.  
  
Moments passed as Shikamaru stayed tense with his eyes closed, awaiting the inevitable crushing force of hardened sand around his arms – but it never came. Instead, he heard a loud crack and then a soft thump from in front of him.  
  
Shikamaru opened his eyes and was astonished at the sight.  
  
Gaara was now on the ground with cracks all over his face, staring up at a group of kuls standing between him and Shikamaru, Kiba, and Choji.  
  
"Are you all alright?" A kul in green clothes with bushy eyebrows asked them, turning his head just a fraction to look back down at them.  
  
Shikamaru, Kiba, and Choji nodded numbly and stared in shock at their saviors.  
  
"Good." The bushy eye-browed kul smiled. "Now stand back."  
  
Gaara stood back up somewhat shakily, but his eyes were still as barren as before watching the three new kuls intensely.  
  
Shikamaru took the cue and motioned to Kiba and Choji to follow him away from the fight. Shikamaru noticed Naruto and Sasuke standing not far off and decided to join them as they watched.  
  
.................................  
  
Naruto couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Rock Lee come from out of nowhere and kick the monster Gaara right in the face, making a direct hit. He just couldn't conceive it. Rock Lee must have been the first kul to even touch the red head since the battle began.  
  
Naruto had thought for sure that Shikamaru, Kiba, and Choji were done for, but that turned out not to be the case. Rock Lee had saved them from a crippling attack, and now he and his teammates, Neji and Shino, were facing off with Gaara as Shikamaru, Kiba, and Choji escaped.  
  
Naruto was so shocked, he forgot to greet his pueblo mates when they finally stopped beside him and Sasuke.  
  
Apparently, they were too.  
  
"Who is that guy?" Shikamaru muttered breathlessly to no one in particular.  
  
"Rock Lee." Naruto replied, not even really noticing who he was answering.  
  
"He's fast." Kiba observed with awe, staring at the face-off just feet away.  
  
"No kidding." Choji commented.  
  
"Who are those guys with him?" Shikamaru asked.  
  
"His teammates." Naruto replied, again not realizing who he was talking to. He felt like his world had been turned upside down; but not only that. He felt a little pang of jealousy.  
  
Rock Lee had been able to do what no one else could – he made the monster acknowledge him. Naruto found that he envied him greatly – for his skill and his bravery.  
  
"It's beginning." Sasuke muttered, speaking for the first time, and everyone unconsciously tensed.  
  
Naruto pushed away his jealousy as Rock Lee jumped into the air towards Gaara. He wanted Rock Lee to succeed over the monster with every ounce of his being.  
  
That's when he jumped up and yelled. "Go Rock Lee! Beat the bastard!"  
  
Soon, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Choji were cheering along with him.  
  
.............................  
  
The Sultan watched the battle with interest from his private balcony, sitting beside his wife, the Valide Sultan.  
  
A kul had finally been able to make his grandson crack and now the remaining kuls were cheering him on. This was an interesting development. Especially since the first kul to finally touch his grandson was so young and relatively inexperienced.  
  
"Chichi-ue?"  
  
The Sultan looked down to regard his pink haired daughter. "hm?"  
  
"Why is Gaara so strong? I have never seen him fight before." She asked, leaning against the balcony edge and watching the battle taking place, her short hair whipping in the desert wind.  
  
The Sultan contemplated replying with a lie, but then he thought better of it. Sakura would eventually have to learn her nephew's true nature sooner or later. "Because he has a powerful, desert djinn within him."  
  
Sakura whipped her face around and stared at him in shock. "A djinn?!"  
  
This time, Tsunade-sama answered. "Yes, Sakura-chan. That is why he is so strong."  
  
"But why?" Ino asked and then walked up to the edge of the balcony as well.  
  
"It was a decision that his father made in order to protect the city." Tsunade replied, frowning deeply. She never condoned the decision, she thought it was too dangerous, and in the end she was right. It was hard for the boy to keep complete control over the sand djinn and that cost his father and his mother their lives. Now, to keep him in check and give him a reason for living, the Sultan appointed Gaara as a top janesserie to guard the Sultan from any harm and hone his own control over the djinn. That was the only way, save killing the boy, to keep disaster at bay.  
  
Both girls stared over the balcony and into the courtyard at their older nephew as he tried to defend himself against his opponent. The entire courtyard was strewn with the bodies of incapacitated kuls, who had all been unfortunate enough to meet Gaara's wrath. Yet this new kul was different, their nephew actually looked to be losing ground. His sand attacks were becoming slower than his opponent's attacks, which was surprising and unexpected.  
  
Maybe it was due to the fact that both of the Sultanas had been dealt a major blow earlier in the week when they were rejected and had rejected the kul of their dreams, but now they found themselves feeling quite depressed for Gaara. They hardly knew him, but they had often seen him around the Palace. He was always so alone and they had always wondered why, and now they knew. He harbored one of the most feared entities in the Arab world – possibly even the entire world – and all he could do to survive was control it for the benefit of the people who secretly shunned him in their hearts.  
  
Now, as he began to lose against a kul with no real remarkable traits, his life seemed worthless or at the very least transparent. He lived for no one, he only existed to fight and his existence was now being diminished in front of their eyes.  
  
Soft tears trickled down the Sultanas' cheeks unbidden at the sight.  
  
"Don't cry, little sisters." Temari stepped up between them and wiped their faces gently, watching Gaara with saddened eyes as well.  
  
She loved her brother with all of her heart, even though she didn't know how he felt about her. Life had taught him to close himself off, so now he was close to an empty vessel of a true boy he could have been.  
  
She knew it hurt her sisters to finally understand his fate. She felt the same pain when she found out. Although it pained her more to see her brother be used by the Sultan in such a way – as training for kapikullis – she also understood that it was necessary. The risk was too great otherwise.  
  
She only wished that there was someone or something that could save Gaara from himself.  
  
...............................  
  
Naruto found himself smiling in wonder, along with his comrades, as Rock Lee managed to make hit after hit through the monster's defenses.  
  
Neji and Shino both stood stoically near the battle, watching their teammate perform his quick attacks at blurring speeds.  
  
If it kept up like this, Rock Lee was going to win!  
  
Just as that thought raced through Naruto's mind, his previous good feelings were wiped away with one strangled scream.  
  
When Rock Lee had gone in for yet another kick, Gaara had dodged it by mere centimeters before pummeling Rock with the sand from his gourd. The sand took hold of Rock before he could jump away and was now surrounding his entire form except for his head. Gaara grinned and tightened his hand into a fist, causing the sand tomb around Rock to tighten as well, eliciting a strangled yell from the bushy eye browed kul and splattering blood against the walls and ground.  
  
"NO!" Naruto yelled, clenching his fists. Where had the monster suddenly gotten his speed? He couldn't even dodge the attacks before!  
  
Gaara moved his fist and his sand appendage followed, throwing Rock Lee against the wall and knocking him unconscious. Without even a delay, his sand lashed out and grabbed Neji and Shino as they attempted to jump into the air and dodge the attack. Both fell to the ground with their legs in captivity and soon their screams broke out as well.  
  
Naruto's mouth dropped open and his hands went slack at his sides, incredulous of how fast the tables had been turned.  
  
It wasn't long before the red head switched his gaze from the kuls he had just downed to the only group of kuls left.  
  
Shikamaru and Kiba both gasped, and Naruto felt his skin crawl. This was not good.  
  
Gaara walked calmly towards them and Sasuke moved to a position right in front of Naruto, holding up a metal weapon in defense and eyeing the red head warily.  
  
Gaara smirked and his sand bloomed around him yet again, slipping through the air right at Sasuke's legs. Sasuke didn't move and that's when Naruto began to get worried.  
  
"Sasuke!" Naruto cried out. "Move!"  
  
Sasuke didn't budge, as though he hadn't even heard the blonde's plea.  
  
Naruto panicked. What could the raven haired jerk be thinking? He had to move or he would be caught in the sand!  
  
"Sasuke!"  
  
"I'm not moving, Naruto!" Sasuke yelled back, determination lacing his voice. "He'll get you if I do."  
  
"He'll get me if you don't!" Naruto yelled back, feeling angry at the jerk's stubbornness. "There's nothing you can do!"  
  
Sasuke didn't respond and the sand had almost reached him.  
  
Naruto pushed away his reservations and leapt on the black haired kul, pushing him out of the way before it was too late. Now he was in Sasuke's place, waiting for the sand to crash into him; but it stopped inches from its objective.  
  
Confused, Naruto looked up to lock gazes with Gaara and suddenly, he felt a thrum of power pulse outwards from his core.  
  
Gaara just stared at him blankly, unmoving, while Naruto was hit with an image of the Nine-tailed Fox thrashing and roaring behind its cage of branches.  
  
Fox? Naruto asked, within his own mind, getting the distinct impression that he was abruptly able to see the Nine-tails within him while still in his conscious state. It was a confusing feeling, like he was in two places at once.  
  
The Fox stopped thrashing within its cage to look straight at him and Naruto felt a sudden surge of power flow through him. He almost collapsed with its raw intensity and could feel his visage changing; his canines became longer and sharper, his nails grew into claws, and he could smell the most distinct fragrances around him.  
  
What're you doing? Naruto asked, panicking at the new sensations. Stop it!  
  
'I apologize, little one.' The Fox replied briskly. 'I am merely acting upon instinct. This Gaara is not a normal boy, I sense a djinn within him. It calls out to me. It is evil.'  
  
Another djinn? Naruto faltered confusedly. I don't understand, why are you doing this?  
  
The Fox pawed restlessly at the ground, its tails swishing from side to side. 'The evil sand djinn within the boy is pushing for dominance, for control over his mind. It has sensed me within you and it thirsts for blood. You must stop it, little one. Take my power. It is the only way!'  
  
Naruto snapped out of his mind to see the red head across from him holding his head in his hands as though fighting an inner battle. The Fox was right, the boy had a djinn within him that was obviously warring for control, and the boy was losing.  
  
Naruto bit his lip, puncturing it with his new fangs, and glanced at Shikamaru, Kiba, and Choji then at Sasuke, who was now sitting on the ground and staring up at him with wide eyes. Sasuke was the only one to have never seen him in this state before. Naruto cringed inwardly. He didn't know Naruto's secret – but Naruto knew that it would soon be a secret no more.  
  
Naruto inhaled a deep breath and planted his feet, watching the red headed boy writhe in front of him.  
  
Okay, Fox.  
  
The pulse of red chakra beat faster, thrumming through his body and forming rivulets around him, until for a moment all he could see was red. He cried out with the intensity of it, before his body went slack and the power surrounding him pulled back closer to his body.  
  
"Naruto...?"  
  
Naruto turned a bit to gaze at Sasuke, with apologetic eyes, pleading with him silently to try to understand.  
  
Sasuke stood up unsteadily on his feet, watching Naruto warily, as though he had never seen the boy before. The boy who was now red eyed, instead of blue, with whisker marks that looked like deep scars upon his once flawless skin, and fangs that jutted over his bottom lip. Not to mention, his new incredible amount of chakra. "What...who are you?"  
  
Naruto winced and turned his face away. Sasuke would probably never want to see him again. Once he knew the truth. "I...I'm sorry, Sasuke."  
  
Naruto felt himself tense on instinct when Gaara stood back up – but no, it wasn't really Gaara anymore. The boy's usual cold, teal eyes were now yellow and slit, while his facial expression was completely different. He was smiling – not smirking, not grinning – but smiling. The change sent another chill down Naruto's spine. He liked the old Gaara better – and that was saying a lot.  
  
"So Nine-tails, I meet you at last!" A shrill voice released from Gaara's mouth, not his voice.  
  
Naruto opened his mouth against his will to find that he wasn't the one speaking either. The voice from his lips rumbled deeply, "Have you been waiting for me, badger?"  
  
"For more years than you could know, Fox!" Gaara laughed coldly and maniacally.  
  
"What a pitiful life you must lead." Rumbled Naruto, not smiling in the least at the other djinn's antics.  
  
"Ah, that may be so. But it is about to become so much better. I can taste it!" Gaara's djinn-eyes glinted with promise, a smile still plastered on his face.  
  
Naruto's power flared at the insinuation and his instinctual response to the open threat became overwhelming. "We'll see about that!"  
  
Then both boys' powers exploded at the djinns' insistence, crumbling the stone floor of the courtyard, until they stood on nothing but chakra.  
  
The Sultan and his family had all moved to the balcony's edge staring at the pair in shock and a little bit of fear, as the kuls behind Naruto had all taken a wary step back, never taking their eyes away from the indescribable scene before them. Sasuke could only watch Naruto's back in confusion, wondering how it had come to this, and wondering whether his Naruto would ever come back.  
  
"Come at me, Fox!" Gaara cried, giggling hysterically.  
  
"With pleasure." Naruto mumbled and pushed off towards the red head at an alarming speed.  
  
.............................  
  
Uchiha Itachi snapped his gaze towards the east and focused his red gaze passed the monotonous dunes and into the Palace. His smile never reached his eyes.  
  
The power he sought was almost within his reach – all he needed was to get the boy.  
  
"Soon, Uzumaki Naruto." Itachi murmured into his cloak. "Soon I will relieve you of your little fox, and then I will gain your power."  
  
Itachi watched his caravan move along with deadened eyes from his perch upon an intricately carved carriage.  
  
"Just don't die yet."  
  
............................  
  
AN: Oh My God! That chapter took like 5 hours to write. I am not kidding! I'm glad I'm done with it.  
  
Sadly, I wasn't able to put the entire plot I had planned for this chapter in this chapter, because a whole bunch of new ideas popped into my head as I wrote (as often happens). So, I guess the next chapter will begin where the middle of this chapter was supposed to be. Pffft....blah. (points gun at head – too tired to pull the trigger...sigh)  
  
So now you all may be able to see where this story is leading...you know, the conclusion. You see, Itachi isn't really after the Sultan like everyone thinks. Heh...poor Naruto...and poor Gaara! I've really made him into a depressing character and I didn't even mean too! I was hoping to deviate from canon and make him be a bit more er...normal. As you can see, that didn't really work out too well. Poor little Gaara-chan. And poor little Sasu-chan for being all confused. Poor Naru-chan for everything previously stated. Even poor little Saku and Ino-chan! I made them cry!  
  
I feel depressed.  
  
Maybe it's just because I have read the last three Manga chapters (119- 121), which make me want to cry my eyeballs out. Where did the Itachi and Sasuke brotherly relationship go wrong? I'm thinking maybe when Itachi suddenly decided to kill his entire family...that could have been it. (  
  
Poor Sasu-chan!  
  
Thank you, Thank you, for all of the reviews yet again! They all make me smile (just so I can depress myself by writing another chapter. Yay). Bye bye! 


	13. Who I Really Am

AN: I don't own Naruto...how utterly depressing.  
  
Chapter 12  
Who I Really Am  
  
Kakashi leaped from his perch at the top of a high rising pillar and landed lightly at the edge of the now broken courtyard. He pulled up his head protector to reveal his all-seeing eye, training it in caution at the two boys battling recklessly against each other as everyone else watched on.  
  
The only other kuls within the courtyard who were still conscious were all staring at Naruto and Gaara as they played out a deadly dance, never even touching the ground but pushing off of their own chakra. All of the kuls were pressed back against the furthest wall, except for Sasuke, who was still sitting upon the ground with a mixed expression of confusion, awe, and worry. So many emotions – something Kakashi never thought he would live to see upon the stoic kul's face.  
  
Kakashi moved along the wall stealthily until he reached his objective. Iruka's body was still splayed half against the wall, blood trickling from the side of his mouth and legs. Kakashi removed his head protector and placed the metal up against the brown haired kul's nose. He was satisfied when condensation collected in two equal ovals upon the metal, denoting that the kul was still alive and breathing.  
  
Kakashi slid his wary gaze back to the fight taking place dangerously near him, watching as flashes of red and yellow clashed and collided, causing the very earth to shake.  
  
He couldn't say he was surprised that this had happened. He had warned the Sultan earlier during one of his briefings of Naruto's condition and the possible affect fighting against another djinn-vessel could have. Of course, Kakashi had never known of another case like this, but he had gone with his instincts. And his instincts told him that placing two djinns in such close proximity within such a combative situation was just like playing with fire, and eventually someone was going to get burned – if not everyone.  
  
The Sultan had told him he would take his thoughts into consideration, but that Gaara was too valuable of a tool for training to pull out based on a simple whim. Kakashi had respected the Sultan's decision, of course, even though he felt it was wrong with practically every fiber of his being. But the Sultan wasn't stupid. Kakashi was sure Jiraiya-sama had already set a plan into action for a case such as this.  
  
So what was he doing just standing in that balcony?  
  
Kakashi tilted his face up against the sun to see the Sultan, surrounded by his family, simply watching the two feral boys battle it out with a slight expression of tense, interest.  
  
Kakashi frowned lightly behind his mask and deftly scooped Iruka's body into his arms, before he kicked off of the ground and landed at balcony level of the building adjacent to the Sultan's. Carefully, Kakashi laid Iruka's limp form upon a bench within the balcony and then leapt across a gap to land right beside the Sultan.  
  
The Sultan slid his gaze away from the fight below after a few moments and placed it on the new arrival.  
  
"What is it, Kakashi?"  
  
"Why are you letting this battle go on?" Kakashi murmured lowly, so that the rest of the family wouldn't hear.  
  
The Sultan sighed and stared back down at the fight, suddenly looking at least ten years older. "I want the Fox to win."  
  
Kakashi stayed silent for awhile contemplating his next question. "You want to humiliate the badger. Teach it the price of disobedience?"  
  
The Sultan nodded slightly and didn't even flinch when the two djinn- possessed boys crashed into a far wall of the courtyard, creating a hole with their chakra's alone. "I want my grandson to be free, Kakashi. I want him to finally gain control of his spirit, of his life. It may not sound like me to speak this way. Maybe I am becoming too old, finally, but his constant loneliness has disturbed me. The badger djinn has made him into an empty shell."  
  
Kakashi pulled his head protector back over his left eye. "This is a risky game you are playing, Jiraiya-sama."  
  
The Sultan didn't reply.  
  
...........................  
  
Naruto shook his head roughly, dispelling a large amount of sand which had lodged itself in his hair when he had crashed through the wall with Gaara.  
  
The red head was still laughing in his irritatingly high-pitched voice and pushing himself up from off the ground a short distance away.  
  
Naruto growled. Everything about the boy sent his instincts on fire. This was disconcerting because Naruto wasn't really used to having such strong reactions to anything, much less the feral feelings that were now coursing through him in waves.  
  
"What's wrong Fox?!" Gaara sneered, noting the blonde's rigid stature.  
  
Naruto glared and flexed his claws, eyes darkening as he watched the red- head step closer.  
  
"Aw...you don't hate me that much, do you?" Gaara laughed. "What happened to your killing intent?"  
  
Naruto finally opened his mouth, his own voice overridden by one much deeper. "I'm not like you, badger. I don't have killing intent, but you're right, I do hate you."  
  
Gaara giggled. "Oh well that's funny, because you didn't seem to be averse to killing before you were sealed. How many years ago was that? 15? Not too long. You murdered hundreds then and you know you liked it!"  
  
Naruto's eyes flared and he felt rage swell within his chest from the foreign soul within him. "You're wrong!" He growled.  
  
"Hm." Gaara rolled his eyes. "You are still so predictable. Still fighting against your true nature – your inborn killer, your innate taste for blood. You cannot run from the djinn you are. Why fight it?"  
  
"Not all djinns are like you!" Naruto rumbled, beginning to pace around the red head as though contemplating the best time to spring.  
  
"Oh?" Gaara's visage was suddenly painted with a false questioning look. "Don't tell me you didn't enjoy killing your lover's whore – the Sultana who stole him away from you. She was a bitch, wasn't she?"  
  
Naruto stopped pacing against his own will and stared at the red head with an emotion borrowed from the Fox – shock.  
  
"Oh yes." Gaara smirked, his eyes glinting. "I know all about that. Don't tell me you actually expected that little debacle to escape my notice. How could I not know when your blood boiled and your scent was rife with the immense joy of killing. Any djinn within the Empire could sense your rage and...pleasure. You enjoyed killing her with the very core of your being and you would have enjoyed killing the baby boy as well, if your beloved Caliph hadn't stepped in."  
  
"No..." Naruto choked out, and he wasn't sure if it was him or the Fox.  
  
"Don't you see, little kit?" Gaara laughed maniacally. "You can't run away from who you are! You can never escape the true blackness of a djinn's heart!"  
  
Naruto simmered in his spot feeling conflicting emotions of his confusion and the Fox's anger war against each other within his mind before anger finally won.  
  
"You bastard!" Naruto's deep voice ripped out of his throat, before he leapt at the badger with all of his strength and speed.  
  
The red head moved out of the way at the last moment, but Naruto had expected it and had already flipped to the side in mid-air, burying a knee into Gaara's stomach as he landed and sending the red head flying into the opposite wall.  
  
Gaara barely had time to cough up blood before Naruto transported to his side and punched him in the chin, sending the red head's body into the air, only to be kicked by Naruto from behind and crash back into the hard stone floor of the courtyard.  
  
Gaara coughed up more blood and painfully pushed himself up from the hole he had made upon his re-entry. Naruto landed not far away from him, breathing harshly.  
  
"That's right." Gaara smirked, wiping his mouth of the excess blood. "Show me who you really are, Fox. Don't hold back."  
  
Naruto's fists clenched and hesitated, before he leapt on Gaara again. This time, slashing the boy's sand encrusted midsection with his claws.  
  
"I'll..." Naruto panted, finally seeing blood. "Never..." The blood was pooling now. "Ever..." Just a little bit more. "Be..." The blood was flowing freely. "Like..." His fingers and claws were drenched and slippery with the red liquid. "You!" Naruto howled and then stuck his fist straight through the boy below him.  
  
Naruto watched in a mix of horror and elation as Gaara's features paled and his eyes bled back to teal from their former slit yellow.  
  
Naruto locked his gaze with the boy, whose eyes went from confused, to panicked, and finally to acceptance. Gaara, the real Gaara, smiled slightly up at him, and suddenly, Naruto felt like he was going to be sick to his stomach.  
  
This wasn't right...  
  
"I'm..." Gaara's eyes slid to a point beyond Naruto and then his face went slack, his chest heaving and then becoming eerily still before breathing out one last time. "Free."  
  
No.  
  
What had he done?  
  
No...this wasn't...  
  
Naruto's eyes widened and he jumped away from Gaara's body, clutching his own body and curling into a fetal position on the ground.  
  
He didn't notice the gasps that had resounded from the balcony above him and the kuls behind him. He didn't even notice the cries that erupted against the wind. He could only stare blankly at the bloody body, feet away from him – haunting him with its unnatural stillness.  
  
The blonde shivered as his power slowly drained out of him, leaving him feeling cold and dead.  
  
What did you do, Fox? Naruto trembled, closing his eyes, trying to see the Fox in his mind's eye.  
  
Images of the Fox eluded him and no reply seemed to be forthcoming. It was as if the Fox was hiding from him.  
  
Naruto trembled some more, but this time it was caused by building anger.  
  
What did you make me do?! Answer me, Godammit!  
  
There was still no reply.  
  
Naruto slowly shrank into himself and vaguely felt tears well in his eyes and fall down his pale cheeks. You made me kill him...you made me a murderer...why? What have you done?  
  
Suddenly, Naruto felt two strong hands clamp under his arms and lift him up. He let himself go slack and his eyes went blank, giving everyone who looked upon him the distinct impression of a doll; something without a soul.  
  
He heard voices above him, but he couldn't discern what was being said...it was as though everything was being filtered through an all encompassing void...a darkness that he would never be able to escape.  
  
He could only manage to pick out words like, "tragedy" and "traumatized", before his mind went blank again.  
  
Although his eyes were open, everything was dark, and everyone around him – the girls crying, the crippled kuls writhing on the ground, the Sultan and his wife giving a few janesseries instructions, Kakashi looking down at him in worry – looked washed out and ghostly; as if they weren't really there at all.  
  
Kakashi's mouth moved, from beneath his mask, but Naruto could not hear a sound and then he was lifted completely off the ground and cradled in the General's arms. Yet, he still couldn't feel anything – every sensation was numb and surrounded by a dull, throbbing pain.  
  
More voices, and then Naruto's vacant gaze fell upon Sasuke, who was gazing straight back at him. Naruto saw so many emotions flash within Sasuke's dark orbs, so many that he could never possibly discern them all, but he felt nothing in return. Vaguely, he realized that Sasuke may have seen this indifference, because a frown began to grace his pretty face.  
  
Naruto wanted to feel something for the boy, anything to reassure him, but doing so would bring back the pain, and he couldn't handle the pain. Whatever he did, he had to keep the pain away...  
  
Soon though, Sasuke was gone and the landscape changed.  
  
Kakashi must have been carrying him away.  
  
...............................  
  
Sasuke entered the dark pueblo to see General Kakashi standing over Naruto's mat with Naruto curled up within a tattered blanket and staring blankly at nothing.  
  
General Kakashi nodded slightly to him and Sasuke entered further until he was right beside him, looking down at Naruto as well.  
  
The two were silent for a while, before Sasuke finally spoke – needing to relieve himself of the troubling thoughts and questions that had been plaguing him since Naruto's fight with Gaara began.  
  
"What is Naruto?"  
  
Kakashi leaned back on Sasuke's mat slowly and then replied solemnly, "It's not what he is, Sasuke. It's who."  
  
"Then, who?" Sasuke murmured, keeping his expression carefully blank.  
  
"He's just a boy." Kakashi replied simply, then sighed at Sasuke's questioning gaze. "A normal boy with an abnormal burden, much like Gaara."  
  
Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this. Gaara...wasn't normal.  
  
Kakashi continued, placing his hands into his pockets. "Naruto has been hated all his life for something he himself had not known about until very recently. He has harbored a Fox djinn within him since he was a baby, in order to save his village. But the people were ungrateful for his sacrifice and now he lives with much self doubt."  
  
"Self-doubt." Sasuke murmured, as though to himself. It was hard to believe that. The Naruto he knew never doubted anything. He was always confident in everything he did, mostly stupidly so. That was one characteristic that made Naruto, Naruto. It was hard to believe that the blonde had even a droplet of doubt in his body. But then, Sasuke remembered Naruto's anxiousness in the courtyard before facing Gaara. Then, he had definitely doubted, and Sasuke had been surprised.  
  
He was beginning to realize that he didn't know Naruto at all.  
  
"It is likely that Naruto is still fighting that doubt, the insecurity that comes with being the simultaneous trapper and protector of a powerful and deadly djinn." Kakashi replied, breaking Sasuke from his train of thought. "I'm assuming that the djinn still has much power over Naruto, especially in tight situations."  
  
"Back there..." Sasuke murmured, eyes suddenly alighting in understanding. "The Fox djinn within Naruto had taken over his body..."  
  
"To fight the other djinn, yes." Kakashi supplied. "Although, I still do not understand its full motive or if Naruto had..."  
  
Kakashi trailed off, eyes looking distant, and Sasuke wondered what he was thinking, but didn't ask about it. He had a distinct feeling he wouldn't receive an answer anyway.  
  
"Anyway," Kakashi snapped back from his reverie, eyeing Sasuke. "It made Naruto kill, and it seems that the act has broken him."  
  
Sasuke felt a sudden rush of fear and concern flood into him, but he pushed it back forcefully. He needed to stay calm, collected. "Will he get better?"  
  
"It will be hard." Kakashi reached out and tugged the covers a bit higher over the numb blonde. The blonde didn't even flinch at the touch, but just kept on staring into nothingness, as if he was truly all alone in the room.  
  
Sasuke almost visibly winced at Naruto's state. At least now, Naruto wasn't still covered in blood. That had been almost unbearable to witness and it had made the image of lifelessness complete.  
  
"Unlike the first time he killed, he remembers this." Kakashi added.  
  
Sasuke's head jerked up. "The first time?"  
  
"Yes, when he thought you had died – in the desert." Kakashi looked like he was watching Sasuke intently for his reaction.  
  
Sasuke's eyes widened this time and took in the deadened boy in front of him with a new understanding. The blonde had killed for him. His Naruto had killed before this...and he never knew about it. "No one ever told me."  
  
"Hm." Kakashi let out a short breath and then got up to walk passed Sasuke towards the door, hands hanging lazily in his pockets. "I had hoped that Naruto would tell you himself, eventually. It is his right after all. I think the idea is still too painful for him."  
  
Sasuke nodded, suddenly feeling very drained. This was a lot of new information to get through. He realized that he had never truly understood the blonde, they had never really talked about those things. Information only came out when it was absolutely necessary, that was how their relationship worked. Yet now, Sasuke was regretting that path. When had he changed? When had he stopped striving to be the ultimate anti-social hardass and start transforming into a reasonably decent human being? Why did he suddenly care so much about the little details of another?  
  
He stared at the blonde boy's blank, but angelic face. It was all Naruto. No one else had ever been able to break through the walls Sasuke had carefully and painstakingly built over the years. The walls that protected him from people like his brother, and soon, from everyone. Only Naruto had taken them down, piece by piece, until Sasuke felt bare and infinitely vulnerable. But instead of feeling pain, all he had felt was contentment, and in Naruto's presence, Sasuke had been slowly learning to let his guard down...to show what he felt to the one who meant so much to him.  
  
Sasuke felt a sudden wave of protectiveness wash over him as he stared at the blonde's painfully soulless eyes and expressionless visage. This wasn't the Naruto who broke through to him. That Naruto had been taken away and had been replaced by a shaken doll. What had that monster done to him?  
  
Sasuke promised himself that he would make Naruto come back. He would take care of Naruto, just like Naruto had taken care of him.  
  
"I'll make sure the other kuls sleep somewhere else tonight." Kakashi murmured, leaning against the doorway.  
  
Sasuke almost jumped at the voice, having completely forgotten that Kakashi was still there. He was becoming careless. "Hn."  
  
"I will see you tomorrow then. You should train and Naruto should too. It is best if he gets his mind off of troubling things."  
  
Sasuke stayed still until he felt Kakashi's presence fade into nonexistence.  
  
Slowly, Sasuke moved to Naruto's mat and sat down on his knees locking gazes with the boy. It was disconcerting to stare straight into someone's eyes only to realize that they were most likely looking through you. The thought chilled him.  
  
"Come back to me Naruto-kun." Sasuke whispered, sliding his hand along the blonde's pale cheek and unconsciously tracing the unusual whisker marks. "I know now, Naruto...I don't care...I don't care what happened...it was the monster, not you...not you."  
  
Suddenly, without even a flicker of warning, Naruto's blank eyes filled with tears which fell softly down his nose and cheeks, wetting Sasuke's hand in the process.  
  
Sasuke stared at the tears as they glittered like diamonds in the moonlight. With every drop, a bit of his tension was washed away. Seeing Naruto cry was better than his previous emotionless state. At least now, Sasuke could tell he was alive – and listening.  
  
"I don't care, Naruto." Sasuke whispered again, wiping away the tears. "You didn't do anything wrong. There was nothing you could do...that Fox, it's too powerful...anyone would be overtaken. You did nothing wrong."  
  
Naruto's tears began forming and falling more frequently, until his entire face was wet, but his vacant expression didn't change – his lifeless eyes didn't change.  
  
"Don't cry...Naruto-kun...don't cry..." Sasuke felt a pressure well up in his chest and travel up to the back of his throat, before he finally let out a small sob. The feeling took him completely by surprise and soon tears of his own were trailing down his cheeks. He hadn't cried since that day when he was six – the day he had lost everything. He didn't understand, but he didn't feel like he was only crying for Naruto anymore. But for himself as well.  
  
Sasuke removed his hand from Naruto's cheek to wipe his own eyes harshly, but he was stopped when Naruto placed his own hand on Sasuke's wet cheek and wiped away the tears with his thumb. Slowly, Sasuke leaned into the caress and let the tears keep falling.  
  
Soon, Sasuke found himself lying on the mat with Naruto, holding the still frighteningly lifeless boy like a life line. And both boys cried themselves to sleep in each other's arms.  
  
...........................  
  
Naruto sat alone in the dark forest, sobbing silently, and wishing with all his heart to be rid of this place. The home of the Fox djinn.  
  
He hated this forest, with its dark branches and shadows, and its howling breeze – it only reminded him of death. It only reminded him that he was a murderer. What was he doing here? Had the Fox brought him here? Why was he still hiding then?  
  
He stared at his hands in disgust and saw them stained with blood. The blood would never wash away, Naruto thought, no matter how much he washed and scrubbed he would always see it when he closed his eyes. That, and Gaara's lifeless and bloody corpse.  
  
Naruto shivered and felt like throwing up again.  
  
For some reason, he couldn't keep the pain out here, like he could outside. Maybe this is where he locked away the pain to begin with. A fitting place, as it would reside with the Fox.  
  
Suddenly, Naruto felt anger engulf the pain. He clenched his fists and stood up, shouting desperately into the forest. "WHAT AM I DOING HERE, YOU MONSTER? WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?! YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?! HIDING FROM ME WHILE FORCING ME TO FEEL ALL OF THE PAIN FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE?!"  
  
Naruto's voice was becoming hoarse, but he didn't care, and only fueled his anger by taking it out on the surrounding trees. He punched the trunks harshly, seeing blood trickle down his knuckles, but not feeling the wounds.  
  
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?! STOP PLAYING AROUND! I'M TIRED OF YOU RUINING MY LIFE!"  
  
Naruto suddenly fell back onto the ground, exhausted and breathing heavily.  
  
"You've ruined my life!" Naruto repeated, voice dying out into a whine.  
  
"Everything you told me about you was a lie." Naruto sobbed, quieter now from fatigue. "You really are a monster. You enjoyed killing them, didn't you? I heard what that other djinn said! You all are the same! You're nothing but a blood-thirsty, power-hungry, monster!!!!"  
  
Only silence greeted him.  
  
Naruto let out another sob, but wiped his eyes furiously, angry at himself for being so weak.  
  
"What am I going to do now?" He whispered, staring up hopelessly into the dark canopy above him.  
  
"I'm sorry, little one."  
  
Naruto abruptly jumped up and stared into the darkness in the direction he heard the all too familiar voice.  
  
"SORRY?!" Naruto shouted back, dripping with sarcasm. "THERE'S NO FUCKING WAY YOU COULD BE SORRY!"  
  
Silence engulfed the forest once again, making Naruto's senses stand on edge.  
  
"SHOW YOURSELF, YOU FUCKING COWARD!" He yelled, eyes straining to see into the endless darkness.  
  
Finally, the darkness grew steadily lighter, until the familiar cage of branches and vines was illuminated. Then a flash of red glinted, before the entire form of the Nine-Tails was visible, lying down in a submissive position and staring at Naruto with guilt written all over its features.  
  
Naruto wasn't disconcerted in the least by the show. "Don't look at me that way, you worthless Fox! You can't trick me again!"  
  
The Fox only looked away, but kept the same expression and posture. "I'm sorry..."  
  
"DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT AGAIN, FOX!" Naruto almost screamed, his knuckles turning white at his sides. "ALL YOU DO IS LIE! HOW CAN I EVER TRUST WHAT YOU SAY?! YOU LIED TO ME ABOUT EVERYTHING! HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO THINK UP THAT PATHETIC LITTLE LOVE STORY, HUH?! A MINUTE; FIVE SECONDS?!" Naruto inhaled deeply, his blood practically boiling. "I HATE YOU SO MUCH! YOU'VE MADE MY LIFE A FUCKING HELL!"  
  
The Fox actually flinched at the words and its eyes saddened considerably. "I understand that you are angry and you have every right to be, Naruto. You don't have to believe me, just please let me at least explain."  
  
"What? So you can just pull another story straight out of your ass?!" Naruto remarked coldly. "I don't think so."  
  
"Naruto..." The Fox rumbled, suddenly sounding like an exasperated mother.  
  
"NO!" Naruto yelled back petulantly, taking the part of the disobedient child – in a highly dysfunctional family. "You listen to me, Fox! The last time I trusted you with anything, you made me kill...you've made me into a murderer! And I know how you felt when you did it...you felt happy, you felt nothing but pleasure! Nothing you say can ever work, because for that short period of time, when I was you and you were me, I knew exactly how you felt! You wanted to kill that boy and you wanted to kill me when I was a baby!"  
  
"That's not true, Naruto!" The Fox finally roared back, swinging its tails and growling slightly. "I didn't want to kill the boy, I wanted to kill the djinn! I just...lost control! That bastard badger was mocking me, my entire existence! He could never let me be. He always had to believe that no matter what, I was a monster! But I wasn't! I'm not! He doesn't understand, he couldn't understand that a djinn could ever be good, but I am! I know it! I can feel it!"  
  
Naruto stared at the desperate Fox, noting its frantic rant in suspicion. "A truly good being could never enjoy killing, no matter what it killed."  
  
The Fox turned silent at that, hanging its head low in shame. When its head swung back towards Naruto, tears were clinging to its fur. "Please Naruto, you have to believe me. I'm not a monster. I loved your father with all of my heart. How can I be a monster, if I could love?"  
  
Naruto hissed. "What proof do I have that you ever loved my father?! Only YOUR stories! That's not enough!"  
  
"It's all I can give!" The Fox sounded like it was close to sobbing now. "You have to understand! My entire life I have fought this stigma with every ounce of my being. I have been trying to prove to everyone that I am good, that I am a decent being. Your father believed I was, even after I killed all those villagers and his bride."  
  
"So, you did kill her?!" Naruto interrupted, pointing an accusing finger at the Fox. "You don't deny it!"  
  
"Yes, I killed her, but it wasn't my fault! I didn't do it on purpose! Let me explain..."  
  
"No way, Fox!" Naruto bellowed. "I've had enough of your explanations! What good are your explanations anyway, when you have no proof?!"  
  
"I..." The Fox wavered, suddenly looking a lot smaller than it really was. "Please, Naruto...I lost control...I didn't mean...why did it have to turn out like this?"  
  
The last question had Naruto staring at the Fox, slightly stunned.  
  
"All my life, I've tried to do everything right..." The Fox whispered, its eyes unfocused. "But everything I've done just made things worse...maybe...maybe...I wasn't meant to ever be more than what everyone thought I was..."  
  
Naruto almost flinched at the Fox's lost expression, almost.  
  
"All I wanted was happiness...all I wanted to do was love and be loved in return...all I wanted to do was protect those who were precious to me...I couldn't even do that right!" The Fox exclaimed with self-hatred. "I tried to protect you today and I only ended up hurting you...you don't know how precious you are to me, little one...Naruto...I never wanted to hurt you...I never wanted to taint you...but I can't help it...I don't want the badger to be right...I don't!...but..."  
  
Naruto's anger drained out of him as he watched the Fox trail off from her statements into dark thoughts, and he felt very drained. So very tired of everything and so very confused.  
  
"Sasuke told me that it wasn't my fault."  
  
The Fox gazed back at Naruto in surprise at the strangely sober and off- topic statement, but it stayed silent, waiting for Naruto to continue.  
  
"He said that you were too powerful and that you could force anyone to do what you wanted, but..." Naruto swallowed, remembering Sasuke's sad expression in the moonlight. "But he didn't know. He didn't know that I let you do it. You had gained my trust, and I willingly gave you my body."  
  
The Fox's eyes glittered with unshed tears, pushing its ears back against its head guiltily.  
  
"That's what hurts the most." Naruto choked out. "That's where most of the pain comes from – deep inside. I trusted you and you turned me into a monster. It wasn't even that I was weak...I was just too stupid!"  
  
The Fox could only stare and shed more tears, not knowing what to reply. It knew deep down that it was guilty of the crime, not that it was premeditated, but it had used Naruto to fight its own battle and while it had a short victory against the petulant badger, Naruto lost in the end. It misused the boy's trust, and for that it was truly ashamed. A new type of pain slowly but methodically seeped into its chest and entered its heart, throbbing with every irregular beat. The Fox felt like it was drowning in it, in a deep sea of despair with no shore for save haven.  
  
Naruto became silent and then he whispered, "I can't let myself be naïve again."  
  
Matching tears fell from his eyes, reflecting the Fox's face, before he slowly turned around and walked away into the darkness.  
  
Naruto turned only once to look back at the Fox's crumpled form, and thought he saw the figure of a woman crying in a crouched position in its place. Naruto blinked, and then the vision was gone.  
  
Finally, his world faded into a silent black.  
  
AN: Depressed yet?  
  
Yeah...mmm..mmm..mmm...nothing like a big bunch of angst to get you up in the morning...or into bed at night...or whatever.  
  
Gawd...that almost made me want to snarf down some happy pills. I am so sorry.  
  
But on a lighter note: you should not despair! The next chapter will start out depressing, but by the end of this tale, everything will be happy again...you'll see! Naruto's just got to work things out, that's all! And of course, we can't forget about Itachi! His mind-fuck techniques aren't depressing at all! No siree bob! Uh...yeah...right...  
  
May Gaara-kun rest in peace...sob...at least now he can be free.  
  
And poor Fox! Its having such a effed up life...everything it touches gets ruined...what a complex that must cause!  
  
And, of course, due to my poor planning skills, I think I'll have to retract my statement about one more chapter to go, there will at the very least have to be two more to wrap this story up. Most likely it will be three-four more chapters. Argh!  
  
Well, good bye for now... 


	14. Who I Really Am Part II

AN: I don't own Naruto...seriously, if I did, he would be nekkid all the time!  
  
Okay...seriously, thank you Miko for pointing out a huge plot hole! Because of you I have re-released this chapter in a way better condition. For those of you who have already read this chapter and don't want to re-read it...just read near the end. I just added some more details about Naruto's past.  
  
I can't believe I didn't write that in the first time around! It's very necessary info...so thanx a bunch Miko!  
  
Chapter 13  
Who I Really Am  
Part II  
  
Naruto winced when he exited the dark pueblo to keep the sun from scorching his retinas. He would have rather stayed within the comfort of the darkness, but Sasuke had insisted that they both leave to train with General Kakashi.  
  
It wasn't just the sunlight that bothered him, but the new sense of exposure he felt; the new sense of vulnerability. He didn't want to be outside – where everyone could see him. He hadn't seen anyone but Sasuke and General Kakashi since the incident and that had been painful enough.  
  
He really hoped wherever Sasuke was leading him was secluded – maybe even in the desert, far away from the Palace walls...  
  
Naruto was wrenched from his thoughts by the soft feel of something gently take hold of his hand. He didn't even realize he had stopped, but he must have while lost in his thoughts, because Sasuke was now standing in front of him, staring at him almost worriedly with his hand wrapped around Naruto's.  
  
At first Naruto was shocked at the very un-Sasuke like gesture, but that only grew into anger. He immediately wrenched his hand out of the soft grip, causing Sasuke's eyes to grow wider as his hand slowly dropped down to his side.  
  
"Naruto...what...?" Sasuke muttered, still looking down at Naruto with those worried eyes.  
  
Naruto visibly flinched at the look. He didn't like that expression on Sasuke – as he looked down at him. He didn't want to be worried about – it was painful. It just reminded him of what he was now, and besides, he didn't deserve it. He could never deserve it.  
  
"Just don't..." Naruto replied quietly, turning his eyes away from the black haired kul. "Don't look at me like that."  
  
"Naruto..." Sasuke moved to touch Naruto's shoulder, but Naruto flinched again and pulled away.  
  
"I said stop!" Naruto burst out, glaring at Sasuke now.  
  
Sasuke's expression turned dark and hurt, before it was effectively wiped away and replaced by his ever present mask of indifference.  
  
Naruto looked down again. He didn't want to hurt Sasuke – hell, he didn't want to hurt anyone – but it was too late for that now, wasn't it? He didn't want anyone to touch him or feel for him for fear that he would pass on his curse to them. He knew his logic was childish, but he also knew that he had the power to hurt everyone around him – everyone he loved. It would be best if he distanced himself from them. That way, he could never make them suffer.  
  
And he could try to block out the pain...  
  
"Fine." Sasuke muttered and then abruptly turned on his heal, continuing to walk in the same direction.  
  
Naruto followed Sasuke at a distance, staring at the ground and vaguely noticing the intricate pattern upon it for the first time. He squinted and realized that each courtyard stone was carved with indistinguishable lines and shapes. His gaze followed the lines until he was looking across the courtyard and seeing the ground in its entirety. What he saw almost made him gasp.  
  
Very clearly carved into the stones was a picture of the Nine-Tailed Fox with the sun haloing its head and below that, a baby with a crude spiral carved into its stomach. Naruto widened his gaze when he noticed the carvings surrounding the two figures – a crowd of people bowing.  
  
Naruto unconsciously spread a shaking hand across his stomach over the spiral seal as he continued to stare at the floor carving in complete befuddlement. Why hadn't he ever seen this before? What was a picture like this doing on the Palace grounds? And more importantly, what did it mean?  
  
In the back of his mind, Naruto heard Sasuke's feet pivot a few feet away from him, denoting that he had noticed Naruto was no longer following and was now looking at him.  
  
"Naruto..." Sasuke muttered, almost warningly.  
  
"You monster!"  
  
Naruto was pulled from his inspection of the carvings at the loud cry, and immediately turned his confused gaze to Sasuke, who in turn, was glaring at a spot behind Naruto.  
  
Slowly, Naruto turned in place to see the two Sultanas, Ino and Sakura, eyes puffy from what looked like continuous crying.  
  
Ino raised a shaky finger and pointed it accusingly at Naruto. "You...you killed him! You're a murderer!"  
  
"Why are you still here?" Sakura cried, tears falling down her cheeks again. "Why did you have to kill my nephew?!" Her hands balled into fists. "Why, dammit?!"  
  
Naruto could only look back at the two sadly, tears of his own beginning to fall.  
  
Ino balled her fists as well and glared. "Answer us, you filth!"  
  
In a flash of blue, Sasuke placed himself between the two girls and Naruto, glaring at the Sultanas for all he was worth and growled. "Don't say those things about him."  
  
"You...!" Ino yelled and glared right back at Sasuke. "You still defend this monster?!"  
  
"I said," Sasuke mumbled dangerously. "Don't say those things about this boy."  
  
"Don't you dare tell me what to do!" Ino trembled in fury. "This kul murdered and he has not been punished! He should be put to death!"  
  
Sakura began to sob more beside Ino, falling to her knees.  
  
"You..." Sasuke muttered dangerously, eyes still fixed on Ino. He began to step towards her threateningly, but a hand clamped onto his shoulder and pulled him back.  
  
"Sasuke don't." Naruto whispered from behind him.  
  
Sasuke looked back over his shoulder, eyes still hardened from his previous glare. "Why not? I can't let these girls accuse you of such things."  
  
Naruto's hand finally slid off of Sasuke's shoulder and fell at his side limply.  
  
"Why stop them, when they tell the truth?" Naruto whispered, expression strangely neutral.  
  
Suddenly, Naruto was pulled into Sasuke's arms, Sasuke's cheek against his while his face was buried into the crook of the black haired kul's neck. Sasuke held Naruto fiercely, protectively, and Naruto wasn't prepared for the feelings that the action brought to the surface – and the pain...  
  
"It's not true, Naruto." Sasuke muttered forcefully into the blonde's hair. "You're not a monster and you're not a murderer. You didn't do it. You couldn't help what that Fox did. Don't you ever believe what they say! These Sultanas don't know what they're talking about. It wasn't you!"  
  
Naruto stayed silent and still, feeling the pain well up within him until he thought he would burst. Sasuke didn't have to lie for his sake...besides, Sasuke didn't understand...he didn't know what really happened...Naruto did it willingly...he let the Fox in...he did it...  
  
The sobs from the two Sultanas became louder, until that was all Naruto could hear.  
  
He was guilty...  
  
Naruto moved his hands to Sasuke's chest and then pushed him away roughly. Naruto stared at Sasuke's shocked expression silently for a moment, before he stepped passed him and stood in front of the Sultanas.  
  
Both of the crying girls glared at him in pure hatred as he knelt before them.  
  
"I'm sorry, Sultana-samas." Naruto mumbled and then touched his forehead to the ground, bowing to them in Islamic fashion. "I'm sorry."  
  
The two girls were silent for long moments, before Ino finally spoke. "You think you can gain our forgiveness so easily?!"  
  
Naruto stayed silent, forehead still against the ground, and then spoke softly. "I don't want your forgiveness." He paused. "I don't deserve it."  
  
Both Sultanas' eyes widened, staring at the blonde in shock as though he had suddenly grown another head.  
  
"Then, what do you deserve?" Sakura whispered, eyeing the kul.  
  
Naruto finally sat up, gazing back at the girls blankly. "Whatever punishment you wish to give me."  
  
Both Sultanas looked at each other, neither expecting to be given such responsibility. Neither knew what to say, for the kul sitting across from them was not the monster they had previously believed him to be.  
  
Sakura gazed into the blonde's deadened eyes, and then she understood the painful truth. This kul was just like Gaara.  
  
Ino saw it too and almost winced. The boy was broken just like her late nephew.  
  
"Ino! Sakura!"  
  
Both the Sultanas and Naruto switched their gazes towards the new voice to see General Kakashi and the Sultan suddenly appear across the courtyard.  
  
The Sultan strode purposefully towards the group, looking down at his daughters disapprovingly. "Ino, Sakura, go back to your chambers."  
  
The two Sultanas looked down and then nodded, getting up and leaving silently.  
  
When the Sultan gazed upon Naruto, his eyes softened. "Get up, Naruto. You are training with me."  
  
Naruto stood up unsteadily and looked at General Kakashi and Sasuke confusedly, before Kakashi nodded. Sasuke's face was a blank mask again, but he was watching Naruto and the Sultan intensely. Despite all of his recent actions, Naruto didn't want to be separated from the black haired kul.  
  
The Sultan had already begun to walk away however, so Naruto followed him sullenly, feeling Sasuke's gaze on his back before he entered a dark corridor and was out of his sight.  
  
.............................  
  
"You must concentrate on molding your chakra within your hand." The Sultan stated, and then pulled out his own hand, creating a spinning blue ball within it. "The chakra will spin within your palm and thus, become a powerful outlet of chakra."  
  
Naruto nodded dumbly and brought up his own hand. All the while wondering why the Sultan himself was training him – treating him as though nothing had happened. As though his grandson wasn't...  
  
"Don't hesitate." The Sultan said, settling himself down into a crouch a few feet away.  
  
Naruto nodded again, pushing his troubling thoughts away for the time being and concentrated his chakra into his right hand. Noticing for the first time that his chakra was a bright purple, which effectively lit up the cavernous room they were in. Yet, instead of forming a tight spinning ball, his chakra immediately burst out in all directions before dying out.  
  
"Ah, good." The Sultan smiled. "But not good enough. Your control is a little off."  
  
Naruto grimaced and tried again, sliding his feet further out and widening his stance as he concentrated yet more purple chakra into his hand. This time, the chakra remained a ball for a moment, before it too broke apart and flew outwards in all directions. Naruto was beginning to get more than frustrated. The Sultan had made it look so easy! What was he doing wrong?  
  
Naruto growled and tried again – making the exact same thing happen.  
  
"You must concentrate, Naruto." The Sultan frowned, coming up beside him. "You are letting the chakra become too erratic. It must spin around one central point upon your palm."  
  
Naruto glared at his palm, trying to find this seemingly ambiguous point. "What're you talking about, perverted geezer?"  
  
Naruto snapped his mouth shut the moment he said it, but knew it was too late. He watched in slight apprehension as the Sultan's expression changed from stern to shocked.  
  
Naruto closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable strike the Sultan would give him, but it never came. Instead, the Sultan let out a small chuckle which gradually grew into a booming laugh that filled the cavernous room and bounced off the walls, making it all the louder.  
  
Naruto blinked at the sight, as the Sultan clutched his stomach and guffawed.  
  
When the Sultan finally settled down, he wiped a tear from his eye and said good-naturedly, "I'm honored that you know of my exploits, young kul! It seems that my reputation precedes me!"  
  
Naruto could only gape at the Sultan's almost maniacally gleeful expression. He's happy about this? And he's not denying it? He must be a true pervert!  
  
The Sultan continued to smile down at him and then took Naruto's hand, palm up. Naruto watched in slight fascination and horror as the Sultan removed a medicinal needle from his hair and quickly pricked Naruto's palm with it. Soon, a small bead of blood grew out of the tiny wound and the Sultan created sand seemingly out of midair, dropping it onto the bead of blood. The bead hardened and then crumbled, leaving a dark red mark where it used to be on Naruto's palm.  
  
Naruto stared at the mark. "What's this?"  
  
"That is your concentration point." The Sultan replied. "Think about the chakra flowing around that point and it will do what you think."  
  
Naruto looked at the Sultan suspiciously before staring at the mark on his palm.  
  
"Do it again." The Sultan ordered and then stepped back, bringing his arms up to cross in front of his chest.  
  
Naruto nodded and concentrated again, imagining the chakra flowing around that specific point on his hand. It was difficult, but soon he could feel his actual chakra focusing as well. The purple chakra flowed seamlessly into his palm and spun around the point, becoming more concentrated until it was too bright to look at. Naruto fought to keep his eyes open as the energy became brighter and denser, draining him slightly with every new spinning strand. Eventually, the effort was too much and Naruto released it, which he learned too late was a mistake, because the powerful ball of chakra immediately hurled itself out of his hand right towards the Sultan.  
  
The Sultan's eyes widened, but he managed to jump out of the way, letting the ball of chakra blast against a far wall, making the room shake a bit with the impact.  
  
"Very good." The Sultan exclaimed, moving to stand beside a dazed Naruto. "Almost surprisingly well done."  
  
Naruto smiled a bit, before he felt a sudden fatigue wash over him. His eyes crossed and he blacked out, falling abruptly to the floor in a heap.  
  
"Hm." The Sultan muttered, looking down at the passed out boy. "Maybe that was a little too much."  
  
............................  
  
When Naruto finally came to, he was looking up into a deep blue sky. That is, until it was blocked by the smiling face of a certain white haired, perverted, geezer. More respectfully known as the Sultan.  
  
"I see you've finally regained your strength." The Sultan stated brightly, lightly letting go of Naruto and standing him on his own two feet. "Didn't take you too long either."  
  
Naruto surveyed his surroundings and noted that he was obviously not in the room he had been training in. In fact, he wasn't in a room at all. He was in a bustling bazaar with hundreds of merchant stands surrounding a large fountain depicting four cobras with water spouting out of their open mouths. "Where are we?"  
  
"We're in one of the main bazaars of this city." The Sultan replied and began to walk, and then added, "outside of the Palace."  
  
"Why?" Naruto asked, confused. He hadn't been allowed outside of the Palace since he had become a kul. He hadn't expected to ever be able to leave the Palace walls again. What was the Sultan doing taking him out? Was that even allowed?  
  
"I'm hungry." The Sultan replied shortly, continuing to walk briskly through the increasing crowd.  
  
A crowd, Naruto noticed, that was now composed of people staring and pointing at the white haired geezer. Something told Naruto, this little outing for food wasn't normal for the Sultan. "Hey, hey, perverted geezer!" Naruto yelled and ran to catch up to the Sultan.  
  
"You really do love that nick-name, don't you kul?" The Sultan smiled, but it was beginning to look forced. "And you like to say it so loudly too."  
  
"Why don't you just get food in the Palace?" Naruto asked, completely missing the Sultan's comments.  
  
The Sultan remained silent, walking faster now, then, "Don't you want something, kul?" He thought for a moment, trying to remember what General Kakashi told him the boy liked. "Some Ramen, or something?"  
  
Naruto immediately brightened and smiled widely, the first true smile he had since the incident with Gaara. "Yeah!"  
  
The Sultan smiled back. "Then Ramen it is!"  
  
The Sultan was glad that the kul had finally lightened up. He was beginning to think that nothing he did could remove that deadened look from the blonde boy's eyes. Kakashi had briefed him on the situation after dropping the young kul off at his pueblo. He knew that the kul was having a hard time and the Sultan felt guilty for it because he knew that it was mostly his fault for everything in the first place. He shouldn't have let his grandson fight Naruto. It had freed Gaara from his cursed state, but it had damaged Naruto in the process. The Sultan had to be the one to heal the boy again. At first, he thought training would work to distract him while teaching him a valuable technique, but the kul still had looked so lost under his mask of emotions. So, he switched to his second contingency plan, Operation Buy-Kul-Whatever-He-Damn-Well-Wants. It was a long name sure, but it would do for now, until he could think of a better one. Nevertheless, it seemed to be working.  
  
Once they had entered a Ramen stand and the Sultan had ordered two bowls from a very stunned cook, the Sultan and Naruto sat down on the rim of yet another fountain to eat their meals.  
  
Naruto slurped down his Ramen in large gulps, feeling incredibly content. He couldn't even remember being this happy in his entire life. He was just beginning to forget what had made him so unhappy in the first place, when an image of Gaara's corpse flashed across his mind. Naruto almost spit the Ramen in his mouth back out into the bowl, but he managed to swallow it sickeningly instead. Suddenly, he wasn't very hungry anymore.  
  
He felt a nauseous wave roll over him as he was filled with disgust at himself. He didn't deserve to be happy after what he did – and he had almost forgotten! He could never forget. He had to suffer for what he did. And what was the Sultan doing? Treating him to his favorite food, right after he killed his grandson! Why was the Sultan being so nice to a monster?  
  
The Sultan finished his bowl and sighed contentedly, "I haven't had stuff this good since I was a little boy."  
  
Naruto stared at the Sultan blankly and then set his half-eaten bowl of Ramen down, whispering, "Why are you doing this?"  
  
The Sultan opened his eyes and snapped out of his expression of pleasure to regard the small boy next to him. "What?"  
  
"Why are you being so nice...when I..." Naruto choked, looking at the ground.  
  
The Sultan sighed, dreading these questions, but he knew he would have to answer them eventually. So, finally, the boy was getting to the point. "What would you have me do, Naruto?"  
  
"I don't deserve your kindness..." The blonde answered softly. "I'm a...I..."  
  
"You did nothing." The Sultan interrupted strongly, causing the boy to look up at him in surprise. "You did nothing wrong. If anything, it was my fault for letting it get so far."  
  
"But..." Naruto whispered, eyes wide and confused.  
  
"My grandson was a tortured spirit until you saved him. You set him free, and for that I am grateful. I am only saddened that it had caused you pain as well. That was never my intention." The Sultan spoke solemnly, sliding his gaze to the gathering crowd of his subjects who were all whispering to each other and pointing at him and Naruto.  
  
Naruto could only stare back at him, open-mouthed. Not knowing what to say. It didn't matter? It wasn't his fault? Saved Gaara... but he had killed him. What did that mean? What was going on?  
  
"I tried to make you forget about the incident with training and Ramen, but I should have just told you this from the start. I don't blame you for what happened. I don't even blame the Fox." The Sultan visibly grimaced. "In fact, I pity it most of all."  
  
"What?" Naruto heard himself ask, feeling a million miles away, like he had suddenly fallen into some sort of parallel universe. "You know about the Fox?"  
  
"Of course I know about the Fox. I saw you fight Gaara, didn't I?" The Sultan gave him a funny look, before continuing. "But I did know the Fox from before." He smiled sadly at Naruto. "I knew about it the moment it was sealed within you as a baby. I had never really seen her, but I heard that she was a good woman."  
  
Naruto's mouth opened wider and his eyes widened until they felt like they would pop out of his head. "You...what....how...?"  
  
The Sultan let out a large breath. "Hm...it looks like I'll have to tell you everything, because you know surprisingly little." The Sultan paused and stared at Naruto's endless shocked expression – that just didn't look natural – before he just shrugged and continued. Story time. "I don't know how much you already know, but I'll tell you now that your mother was one of my oldest daughters and your father was..."  
  
"The Fourth Caliph of the Leaf Village." Naruto squeaked out, still looking dazed.  
  
"Oh, so you do know." The Sultan smiled, pushing a strand of white hair out of his face. "Well, then you should also know about his relationship with the Fox."  
  
Naruto nodded slowly. "Yeah, but how do you know?"  
  
"Your father told me before he died." The Sultan frowned, his eyes distant. "He explained everything. He told me what my daughter had done, what he had done, and he asked for my forgiveness."  
  
"Forgiveness?" Naruto asked curiously.  
  
"You see, my daughter had committed suicide during the incident. I imagine she felt too much pain and guilt at the marriage she had forced your father into. I had been angry, of course, when I found out, not knowing the whole story and thinking that your father was fully to blame. I had gone to him the moment I was informed he had sealed the Fox into his son – into you." The Sultan glanced at Naruto for a moment, before continuing. "I imagine you know why the incident took place?"  
  
Naruto nodded again, solemnly, remembering the Fox's story.  
  
"So he had asked for my forgiveness after he had told me everything and after I had gotten my anger in check, I told him there was nothing to forgive." The Sultan continued. "It was just an unfortunate situation. Allah himself must have cursed them all from the very beginning. Then, your father asked me to watch over you and the Fox, before he died in my arms."  
  
"But the Fox said..." Naruto began, remembering his last meeting with the Fox in his mind. "It said that it had killed my mother."  
  
"Oh?" The Sultan looked down at him in interest. "You've spoken with the Fox?"  
  
Naruto nodded, "That's how I knew the story."  
  
"I see." The Sultan nodded himself. "Well, perhaps she did, but maybe she just felt guilty."  
  
"Guilty?" Naruto questioned.  
  
"Yes, like the entire situation was her fault, like she had brought the events in motion that would eventually lead to your mother, my daughter, killing herself." A flash of pain flickered in the Sultan's eyes before it was gone. "If this was true, I imagine that the Fox is a truly good being. Purely evil beings are impervious to such strong feelings, or so I am told."  
  
Naruto felt very confused at these words and a swirl of emotions overtook him, making him feel incredibly uncomfortable. So, the Fox didn't kill his mother, what it told him was true. Yet, he hadn't believed it, he hadn't even given it the chance to explain, he had only yelled at it and made it cry. What had he done this time?  
  
Suddenly, the Sultan placed his hand on Naruto's head and ruffled his hair. "I apologize for not telling you all of this earlier. Before I left, after the incident, I placed you with a willing foster family within the village, but they deceived me. It seems that all they wanted was the money I offered for your care. I had learned later that almost immediately following my departure from the village, they had left you in a crowded bazaar, but had continued to receive the child-care appropriations. I was finally informed months later of the true situation and I went back to the Leaf village to find you and take you back to the Palace with me, but by that time you had already been taken in by someone else." The Sultan paused as if trying to remember. "Umino Iruka, right?"  
  
Naruto nodded.  
  
"Seeing that, I decided to leave it well enough alone, after I had dealt with your previous foster parents of course. Somehow, I thought it would be easier if you were kept far away from the Palace and that you never knew anything about your past, but I guess I was sorely mistaken. At least now you know you have a bigger family than you thought, eh?"  
  
Naruto's eyes widened as the realization suddenly struck him. "You are..."  
  
"You're grandfather." The Sultan finished and smiled, ruffling Naruto's hair even more, making the golden spikes even more uneven.  
  
Naruto really didn't know how to feel about this. Everything about his life had changed so drastically since he had become a kul. It was like with every new piece of information he gained, an old piece of his life slipped away. He had never really known who he was, until now.  
  
"Wait, why didn't you tell me this before?" Naruto frowned, pointing at the Sultan to emphasize the word 'you'.  
  
"I thought it would be best if you grew up not knowing about your parents' bloody history. Like a clean slate! I thought that way, you could be free of Allah's curse upon your family. Obviously, that didn't work out too well." The Sultan frowned a bit. "You just became a troublemaker and ended up in the Palace anyway. Thus, eventually finding everything out."  
  
"That is so stupid!" Naruto frowned but slowly smiled as he jumped on the Sultan – his grandfather – effectively pushing him into the fountain. Naruto cried out before his head went under in the surprisingly deep pool and then popped up moments later to see the Sultan irritably standing in the middle of the fountain and wringing his hair out.  
  
"Er...sorry!" Naruto laughed nervously, placing his hand behind his head. That was definitely a hug gone wrong. "I didn't mean to push you into the fountain!"  
  
The Sultan grimaced and was about to reply, probably to scold him, when a black-clad janesserie materialized beside him right in the fountain and whispered in his ear. The Sultan's expression turned grave and Naruto stood up out of the water as the janesserie disappeared.  
  
"What is it?" Naruto asked, thinking he already knew.  
  
"He's here." The Sultan replied briskly, stepping out of the fountain and pulling Naruto out with him. "Now we must fight."  
  
.............................  
  
Uchiha Itachi penetrated the great city with his blood-red eyes, searching for the one he wanted. He stood upon the highest wall of the city, facing the Palace, while the rest of his army stood back behind him.  
  
With a sudden tingle of pleasure, Itachi spotted the object of his desire, running alongside an old, but powerful, man with long white hair – the Sultan. This could get interesting. Itachi smiled beneath his high collared cloak.  
  
Without a word he leapt off of the wall onto the rooftop below, leaping from one to the other in effortless bounds towards the duo.  
  
Recognizing the signal for what it was, his army pushed forward and climbed the walls of the city.  
  
Now, the invasion would begin, and Itachi would relish the peoples' screams and bask in their blood.  
  
All before he gained his most prized victory of all. Infinite power.  
  
..............................  
  
AN: Whoa...yeah...that chapter was strangely intense. Less depressing, but intense.  
  
So now the entire truth about Naruto's past comes out and Sasuke is sadly, mostly, out of the picture in this chapter. I'm sorry for that. But he'll sure as hell be in the next one! Bwahahahahahaha!  
  
Uchiha mind-fuck, commence!  
  
And of course, another appearance of our favorite Fox. I love it/her...seriously...my favorite character...bweeeeeee!  
  
And again...thank you sooo sooo much for all of your reviews! They have just gotten better and better as the chapters go on. It's an honor to have my story read by such wonderful individuals. You guys rock!  
  
Oh and if you want to see the 'official' poster for this fanfic...made by yours truly...then go to my homepage and click on the link!  
  
Hope you like it! 


	15. In the End, I'll Always

AN: I don't own Naruto...but I do own my version of Kyuubi!  
  
Chapter 14  
In the End, I'll Always...  
  
Naruto struggled through the thickening crowd of people, all running in the opposite direction from the Palace – where he and the Sultan were going. Naruto could hear deep rumbling sounds originating from the center of the city followed by a chorus of screams carried outward by a quickening wind.  
  
It was becoming harder for Naruto to stay behind the running Sultan, as fleeing men, women, and children continued to pour passed him and nearly bowl him over. Soon, it became too much and Naruto was unceremoniously pushed onto his back by a panicked shopkeeper. When Naruto finally stood back up within the crowd, the Sultan was nowhere in sight.  
  
Naruto panicked and then cried out. "Sultan! Where are you?! Wait! Sultan-sama?!" Naruto paused to take a big breath, the masses still teeming around him. "Hey, Perverted Geezer!"  
  
But no one answered and Naruto couldn't spot the Sultan's white mass of hair anywhere. In fact, he couldn't see much of anyone's head, being as short as he was. He couldn't even see where the Palace was. All he could see was an indiscriminant mass of moving bodies and legs. He cursed himself for being so short.  
  
"Grandfather!" Naruto bellowed as a last resort.  
  
Still nothing, but the screams and rumbles were growing louder – no longer in the distance.  
  
Naruto growled and attempted to move through the unrelenting crowd towards the glimmer of water he could see passed the people in the distance. He needed to get to the fountain. Then maybe he would be able to climb onto it and see above the crowd.  
  
Naruto ducked, pivoted, dodged, and snaked his way towards the fountain, before finally breaking through the mass of people and landing on the fountain's rim. He looked up to see that it was the fountain with four cobras, perfect for climbing.  
  
The ground rumbled and the pool of water rippled beneath him, but Naruto didn't look back as he attempted to heave himself onto one of the snakes. He immediately slipped off and fell into the pool, hitting his head roughly at the bottom.  
  
Naruto held his head with a groan before finally resurfacing and glaring at the fountain heads. Then he glared at his hands, cursing himself for his stupidity. He should've known to do this earlier.  
  
Nodding to himself and ignoring the cries as they grew louder behind him, Naruto gathered the chakra into his palms and planted them securely on the snake's body again. He could feel the suction the moment his hands touched the statue and he smiled roguishly in pride as he climbed up to the very top of one cobra's head.  
  
Naruto sat himself down upon it, but before he could even begin to scan his surroundings a great explosion of fire erupted within the street he had just been standing upon.  
  
When the smoke finally cleared, Naruto tried to look away but he couldn't. He watched in horror as the subsequent scene became clearer behind the lessening smoke. The blonde kul trembled violently at the sickening sight of a street filled with mangled bodies – men, women, and children alike. The bazaar shops were still charred and smoldering, acting as a perfect backdrop to the morbid scene.  
  
Naruto almost whimpered, holding onto the snake's head like a lifeline, but he stiffened even more when a dark figure appeared within the pile of bodies, stepping over them as though they meant nothing – as though the ground was usually composed of burnt and rotting flesh.  
  
Naruto felt dizzy and he swayed a bit upon his perch, loosening his hold, but he kept his gaze locked on the figure as it became clearer, moving closer. When it stopped, Naruto was looking straight into blood red eyes, halfway hooded by raven-black bangs.  
  
Despite his shock, Naruto squinted at the dark man. Something about him was strangely familiar, but the feeling of dread that crept up his spine was completely new. Naruto could feel a dark power emanate off of the man in waves, forcing its way into every fiber of his being. Naruto felt like he was going to be sick again.  
  
"We meet at last, little Fox." The dark man murmured conversationally, smiling behind his high rimmed cloak while his blood-red eyes remained barren.  
  
Naruto's eyes widened and his entire body tensed. He had no idea who this guy was or how he knew about Naruto's affliction, but it couldn't mean anything good.  
  
Naruto unconsciously scooted back upon his perch, eyeing the dangerous man like a caged animal. "Wh...who are you?"  
  
In a flash, the man disappeared and Naruto panicked, before a deep voice whispered in his ear from behind, hot breath trailing slightly on his jaw.  
  
"I am the liberator of your power."  
  
At that very moment, as though awaiting those dark words, a lone voice ripped through the air from the city's great Mosque singing the customary Adhaan(1) – calling the city's people to prayer.  
  
............................  
  
Sasuke stiffened and turned around when he heard the blasts, Kakashi immediately stepping up beside him.  
  
The silver haired General slowly slid into a defensive stance and peered at the walls around the training courtyard, prompting Sasuke to follow suit. There was a long moment of silence, before another blast erupted, this time closer just passed the eastern wall.  
  
General Kakashi pulled up his head protector, letting his right eye see the light of day, and produced a jagged knife from a holster at his thigh.  
  
Sasuke bristled. So the attack had finally begun, but something wasn't right. Obviously, the sounds he could hear and the subsequent smoke he could see billowing over the horizon were a testament to that fact, but there was something else. Something nagging at him in the back of his mind. A definite tingling sensation that he couldn't quite place his finger on was now traveling up and down his spine, causing all of the hair on his body to stand on end.  
  
Sasuke began to get restless as the minutes wore on and General Kakashi still hadn't made a move. He openly stared at the General now. What was he doing, just standing there? Weren't they supposed to go to their assigned posts and fight? When the time came, he was supposed to be fighting at the west corner of the Palace with...  
  
Where was Naruto?  
  
Suddenly, General Kakashi pointed his knife towards a wall that had begun to change shape, the hardened sand becoming soft and malleable until it all flowed to the ground, creating a hole in the middle.  
  
Kakashi cursed under his breath and moved his hand back as if readying to throw the knife at the right moment, when a hand popped through the hole followed by a white, spiky, mane of hair.  
  
Kakashi's grip on the knife loosened and his stance relaxed as the Sultan pushed his entire body through the hole and made his way briskly towards him and Sasuke.  
  
"General Kakashi." The Sultan nodded, coming to a stop in front of him.  
  
"Sultan-sama." Kakashi bowed slightly.  
  
"The invasion has begun." The Sultan began. "Go to your designated posts. Half of this great city is already in ruins." The Sultan let out a huge breath. "Even when we'd prepared...  
  
"Has the royal family been evacuated, Kakashi?"  
  
"I don't know, Sultan-sama." Kakashi replied quickly, losing his usual lazy demeanor in exchange for a curt, business-like tone. "I have only just learned that the attack is taking place."  
  
The Sultan nodded, looking grim. "I must go and make sure that my family is safe."  
  
Sasuke watched as the Sultan turned to go, but couldn't stop the questions that brimmed to the surface when he burst out, "Sultan-sama, where's Naruto?"  
  
At the question, the Sultan stopped turning and began to look a bit confused. Then he looked behind him through the hole in the courtyard wall, murmuring, "He was just behind me..." He sighed in frustration, "Where did that kul go?"  
  
Sasuke's eyes widened and then he stepped forward, asking his next question almost desperately. "Sultan-sama, where did you leave Naruto?"  
  
"He must have stayed in the main bazaar." The Sultan replied with a grimace. "The crowd was pretty thick..."  
  
Sasuke tensed at the foreboding feeling that took over his mind. Naruto was left out in the bazaar alone while the entire city was under attack. Another blast sounded in the distance and Sasuke winced. But was Naruto still in the bazaar or had he moved? What if Naruto had already been caught up in an explosion? Images of Naruto's burnt and mangled corpse flashed through Sasuke's mind.  
  
"I need to go!" Sasuke moved to walk passed the Sultan and through the new hole in the wall, but that suddenly became a very dangerous option as said wall suddenly exploded in a thick cloud of rock and sand.  
  
Sasuke flipped backwards and landed beside Kakashi yet again, glaring menacingly at the enemy warriors now spilling in through the wall's rubble. He wasn't in the mood for this.  
  
One of the leading warriors, with blue skin and wielding a gigantic sword covered in spikes, cried out the customary call to battle and all of the warriors leapt in to attack.  
  
General Kakashi immediately moved in front of the Sultan and countered an incoming kick, grabbing the enemy's leg and burying his elbow deep into the warrior's gut. As soon as that warrior was incapacitated two more took his place, but Kakashi made quick work of them as well.  
  
Sasuke efficiently parried the attacks aimed at him and dealt each enemy combatant a debilitating blow with his hands, feet, or knees. Needless to say, the warriors were no match for the ability of an Uchiha. Especially an angry and irritated one.  
  
Nevertheless, the Sultan, Kakashi, and Sasuke all noticed that the steady flow of new warriors, swords drawn and coming through the hole where the wall once stood, hadn't stopped. The force seemed to be never ending.  
  
Sasuke growled and formed the necessary seals, focusing his chakra into his chest and blowing a steady stream of fire on his latest and unfortunate rivals. Five warriors fell to the ground, burning and screaming in agony – only to be replaced by five more.  
  
Sasuke clenched his fists. This needed to stop soon. He had to go find Naruto, before he...  
  
"Frog Summoning Technique!" The Sultan bellowed and there was a huge puff of smoke, before he was clearly sitting atop a very large frog – a very big frog...with a sword.  
  
Everyone in the courtyard paused to look at the awe inspiring spectacle. Even Sasuke's mouth had opened a little, while Kakashi smiled and murmured, "So this is the Sultan's greatest technique."  
  
Then Sasuke found the Sultan looking right down at him. "Go now and find Naruto! That's an order."  
  
Sasuke nodded and forced his legs to work again, leaping onto an adjacent balcony above the stunned, enemy army and then jumping passed the Palace walls into the city. He pushed all other thoughts away as one image surfaced in his mind – unable to shake his intense feeling of unease.  
  
Naruto...hold on...I'm coming...  
  
.............................  
  
Naruto gasped and whimpered when he felt a sharp stinging pain on his neck, followed soon after by the distinct metallic smell of blood.  
  
The dark man behind him chuckled and pulled the knife away from Naruto's flesh, placing it in front of his mouth and licking away the crimson liquid covering it.  
  
Naruto's eyes widened and he struggled against the man's strong hold around his waist. The action just made the man squeeze him tighter.  
  
"Nuh uh uh." The man chided, gazing down at him with cold eyes. "I'm not going to let you go until I get what I want."  
  
Naruto began to struggle more fiercely, before he yelled back hoarsely, "What do you want from me?!"  
  
"Your power, of course." The man replied silkily.  
  
Naruto grimaced and then searched within himself, gathering all of the chakra he could find, enough that he could use to get free from the man's powerful grasp. He didn't know what the man was talking about, but he wasn't going to let him take whatever the hell he wanted. Not without a fight. Besides, if it was power he wanted, he would deliver it to him.  
  
Finding most of it, Naruto focused it into his hands and bellowed, "I'm not going to let trash like you have it!"  
  
Naruto's chakra exploded from his hands, only to be removed from the man's side and redirected into his own chest. Naruto gasped at the strange and uncomfortable feeling of his own chakra being simultaneously forced out of him and into him. It made him feel like he was getting over-loaded, his skin began heating from too much contact with his own chakra. When the blast finally subsided, Naruto felt incredibly drained.  
  
The man yanked Naruto's hands behind his back harshly and then slammed his free arm into the back of Naruto's head, sending the blonde flying into the ground below.  
  
"That was not enough." The man stated, jumping down lightly from the fountain head. "I need more."  
  
Naruto winced and pushed himself off of the ground weakly, watching his own blood drip on the ground from a wound on his forehead. Then he glared up at the dark man and spat, "I'm not giving anything to you!"  
  
In an instant, Naruto's chest contacted with the man's knee, sending all of the air out of Naruto's lungs, before he was dealt a piercing blow to his back.  
  
Naruto fell back to the ground in a heap and coughed up blood, his vision swimming worse than ever from the unbelievable pain.  
  
Slowly, he sat up, clutching his stomach and watching the dark man warily. He didn't understand why this man was attacking him, but he did understand that this dark stranger could end his life in an instant. Naruto felt a terrible fear grip his heart and his breathing became erratic as his assailant stepped closer.  
  
"Show me your true power, little kul. What you are currently displaying isn't nearly enough." The dark man's eyes flashed from behind his bangs as his all encompassing cloak swayed heavily in the desert breeze.  
  
Naruto stared up at the man blearily and coughed up more blood. He attempted to pull out more of his chakra, but it seemed to be missing, or nonexistent. He didn't understand. Where did it all go?  
  
Then he remembered his chakra's new color. It was purple. It used to be blue. Why had it changed? What did it mean? Naruto panicked. Had his chakra supply become defective? Was it purple because it was less pure, less powerful? What had happened to him? He couldn't access it at all, and right now he needed it badly...  
  
Where was the Fox?  
  
Suddenly, the man's knee cap connected with Naruto's chin in a swift kick, causing the blonde's head to fall back against the hard ground, before he skid to a halt on his back a few feet away.  
  
Where are you Fox?  
  
Naruto was grabbed roughly by the collar only to be punched in the jaw, making him fall limply back to earth.  
  
Fox...where are you? Help me...  
  
Please...  
  
Naruto's breathing was labored, staring into the man's eyes in undisguised fear and helplessness as the dark man picked him up again.  
  
"Show me your true power."  
  
Please...Fox...I know you're there...  
  
The Fox couldn't have been gone could it? The seal was still there...wasn't it?  
  
Naruto began to tremble in fear at the thought of truly being alone.  
  
The man released Naruto in midair then gave the boy a swift uppercut in the gut. Naruto's body became numb and his limbs flailed listlessly when he hit the ground again. He felt a stinging pain in his ribs as though they were broken and involuntarily curled into himself, holding back tears of pain.  
  
I'm dying...Fox...  
  
Please...  
  
My chakra...I don't know what's happened...  
  
I just can't use it...  
  
Please...  
  
The dangerous man stepped over Naruto's limp form, blocking the sun so that Naruto could only see the man's silhouette against the intense brightness. Naruto's glazed eyes widened when the man looked down with an expression of deep disappointment and brought out his right hand. Each finger began to glow a bright red, before he smirked coldly.  
  
"If your power won't come to me willingly, then I will just have to draw it out."  
  
Naruto let out a gasp of fear, watching the glowing hand descend towards his midsection as though in slow motion. It came closer and closer and Naruto cringed, until a flash of familiar dark blue clouded his vision, blocking Naruto from the attack.  
  
Naruto's eyes focused on the scene above him as though pulled out of a horrible dream. There, standing between him and the dark man was the raven haired kul, Uchiha Sasuke.  
  
Sasuke's hands were holding the dark man's wrist in a death grip and they both stood still for a while; both looking back into each other's eyes, before Naruto distinctly heard Sasuke's hoarse voice break through the silence.  
  
"You...!"  
  
..............................  
  
"Watch out!" Shikamaru yelled and moved to push Ino out of the way from an incoming attack.  
  
She stumbled back and almost fell on her backside before Shikamaru caught her arm and swung her against his chest. Then he peered around the room, breathing heavily. That was too close.  
  
He noticed with relief that the sultana's attacker was already getting the daylights punched out of him by Choji as Kiba stood behind him, guarding Sakura.  
  
Once the warrior was down, Choji and Kiba relaxed their stances and Shikamaru let out a loud breath but didn't relax himself.  
  
"Um...kul?"  
  
Shikamaru switched his gaze to the blonde sultana in his arms at her whispered words and suddenly noticed with much discomfort that he was still holding her protectively close. He reddened slightly and jumped back, releasing her from his hold.  
  
Ino's cheeks reddened as well, before she looked away. "Are they all gone?"  
  
Shikamaru nodded and sighed. "For now."  
  
"We should get moving." Kiba murmured, staring out of the room's only window, which was now broken due to the recent attack. "There will be more of them, I can smell it."  
  
"There are more?" Sakura asked, stepping almost disgustedly over the enemy warrior's body and following Kiba and Choji to stand by Shikamaru and Ino.  
  
"Definitely." Kiba grunted.  
  
Sakura paled slightly, but stayed silent.  
  
"This is incredibly troublesome." Shikamaru muttered, pulling a short knife out of his bicep painfully.  
  
Ino winced at the blood which began to stream from the wound. "Here, let me..."  
  
Shikamaru's eyes widened as the blonde sultana ripped a silk piece from her pants off and proceeded to wrap it tightly around his upper arm.  
  
When she was done, she kept her hand on the bandage for a little longer than necessary before finally stepping back.  
  
"Er...thanks." Shikamaru whispered roughly, not really knowing what to say or feel by the unexpected action. Wasn't this sultana supposed to be a bitch? Girls were so unpredictable...  
  
"Now that you two lovebirds have taken care of each other," Kiba began, rolling his eyes slightly at the two. "We should leave and get the sultanas to the royal safe room."  
  
"Is that where our family is?" Sakura asked urgently, while looking at her sister a bit strangely.  
  
"They should be." Choji answered, making his way to the door. "We've all been assigned to take the entire royal family to the same hideaway after all."  
  
"Then we will see them soon." Sakura smiled, brushing a sweaty hand across her forehead.  
  
Choji pulled the doors opened, only to be greeted by a mass of people on the other side. He almost jumped out of his skin, thinking they were enemy warriors.  
  
"Ah, sorry!" A thick eye-browed kul Choji immediately recognized as Rock Lee spoke while waving his hands in a placating gesture. "I guess this is the wrong room."  
  
Kiba peered at the highly bandaged kul in faint surprise. "How come you're up and walking in this type of situation? Haven't you just been beaten badly by that Gaara guy?"  
  
"Well, I..." Lee began, but was cut off by Shikamaru.  
  
"There's no time." Shikamaru said, attempting to walk passed Rock Lee and the group behind him into the corridor. "I see that you're escorting members of the royal family as well."  
  
Rock Lee nodded and then indicated the two kuls behind the large group. "Yes, along with my team mates, Shino and Neji."  
  
"Then we are all going to the same place." Shikamaru stated, pulling Ino into the group by the arm and letting Kiba, Choji, and Sakura follow. "We'll travel with you."  
  
Rock Lee nodded and then began to walk backwards, addressing the larger group. "Okay, stay together now, your loyal kapikulli servants are working hard to lead you to safety!"  
  
Kiba and Choji looked at each other, trying hard to hold back their laughter which was now bubbling to the surface. This guy was too much.  
  
Rock Lee dropped back so that he was walking beside Sakura in the group, eyeing her with a blush on his cheeks.  
  
She pretended not to notice, but he continued to stare and she couldn't bring herself to continue ignoring it. "What?"  
  
"You are very beautiful, sultana-san." Lee replied, staring at her with starry eyes. "I will protect you with my life!"  
  
Sakura didn't know whether to feel pleased or uncomfortable by the remark, so she just stared back at the kul with her mouth slightly open.  
  
The rest of the crowd, comprised of Sakura's relatives, young and old, erupted into laughter at the scene. Sakura's complexion darkened, but she stayed silent, simmering in her own juices. Although, she really did wish they would butt out of it and shut up. She was beginning to hate her life.  
  
Another rumbling blast hit the side of the Palace, causing the entire structure to shake, which dampened the crowd's lightened mood considerably. The crowd turned silent as they all followed their guides through the darkened Palace halls to safety.  
  
Shikamaru went on a bit ahead of the rest, peering forward into the darkness, thinking it was going to be a long a troublesome trip. But then he spotted a distinct flash of yellow appear from out of a hole in the wall.  
  
Shikamaru squinted until the anomaly became clearer in the darkness. When recognition crossed his features, he let out a breath and halted the group behind him.  
  
"Valide Sultan." Shikamaru bowed respectfully, as said woman finally extricated herself fully from the wall.  
  
She nodded and then smiled softly at the group. "Good job, kapikullis. Follow me."  
  
................................  
  
"You...!" Sasuke ground out, glaring into the all too familiar crimson eyes of his brother. "Itachi!"  
  
"Oh?" Itachi smiled coldly. "You remember me, little brother?"  
  
"I could never forget!" Sasuke spat, tightening his grip around Itachi's wrist. "And now, I will kill you!"  
  
Sasuke gathered his chakra into his right hand, focusing it into his greatest attack recently acquired from his training with Kakashi. He would kill his brother with that hand. Finally, after all of those days of searching, after all of those lonely years of brooding upon nothing but that day, after most recently witnessing his beloved Naruto bleed at his brother's cruel hands, Sasuke was going to exact his revenge.  
  
Sasuke's hand crackled menacingly with his energy as he held his brother in place. He felt the technique meet its maximum strength, before he yelled out and pushed the energy into his brother's gut.  
  
Not even flinching, Itachi dodged the powerful attack and moved out of Sasuke's hold at the last second then came behind his younger brother, pummeling him harshly in the back with his elbow.  
  
"Sasuke!"  
  
Sasuke hit the ground, winded, and turned his head at the cry, seeing a bloody and pale Naruto staring at him in horror from the ground a few feet away. He grimaced and pushed himself off of the ground, moving into a defensive stance as he glared at his brother.  
  
His brother wasn't even looking at him, but moving towards Naruto once again. Naruto tensed upon the ground and whimpered but couldn't move otherwise. Sasuke felt the anger lick at his insides. He wasn't going to let his brother touch his Naruto again. Itachi would dare divert his eyes from Sasuke? Sasuke's eyes reddened as the resentment boiled within him.  
  
"Don't ignore your opponent, bastard!" Sasuke roared and ran towards his brother, reactivating the same assault technique in his right hand.  
  
Itachi glanced at him boredly and effortlessly whacked Sasuke's hand away, while simultaneously grabbing Sasuke's collar with his other hand. "I don't have time to play with you, little brother."  
  
Sasuke's eyes widened before he was thrown back against the ground following being punched in the jaw.  
  
Sasuke got up again, blood trickling down his chin as rage still flowed heavily through his veins. He moved to strike again, but was suddenly pinned in place by his brother's darkening gaze.  
  
Sasuke screamed when images forced themselves unbidden into his mind and he fell to the ground holding his head. He could see his old mansion in the Leaf village and the blood staining the walls, followed by the screams of his parents as a dark figure stood over them and impaled them mercilessly with a long and jagged Arabian sword.  
  
"Aaaauuuggghhh!" Sasuke gripped his head harder, willing the images to leave him, but they kept on coming. The blood wouldn't stop flowing from his parent's bodies and they continued to scream, but his brother never ceased his calculated attacks upon their tortured flesh.  
  
"Nnnnnggg." Sasuke finally lost all control and vomited onto the sandy earth.  
  
Just as suddenly, the images left his mind, and he could see his real surroundings again. He clutched his stomach and heaved some more, until he was sure he was through, before he wiped his mouth harshly and pushed himself up off of the ground defiantly.  
  
His brother's gaze was no longer upon him, however, for he had lost interest and was now staring coldly at the battered Naruto again. Yet, he still muttered a short statement, directed at Sasuke. "You are weak."  
  
Clenching his fists and pushing his new sense of vertigo away, Sasuke leapt towards his brother yet again. He would never give up. If anything, those torturous scenes from his past just heightened his resolve. He would kill his brother, even if it meant ending his own life.  
  
.............................  
  
"Sasuke, no!" Naruto shouted, finally able to unstick his throat through his fear. He didn't want Sasuke to die, and he surely would if he tried to attack the dark man again – his brother. Naruto's head whirled at the thought. This evil man was Sasuke's brother. No wonder Sasuke was so cold most of the time.  
  
Naruto found it hard to comprehend, but even so, it wasn't worth Sasuke's life. He should run away and let Naruto die if it should come to that. Sasuke was worth more than him – he always was. "Just run away, Sasuke!"  
  
Sasuke suddenly halted in his tracks, but when his gaze switched behind him towards Naruto, Naruto had to let out a startled gasp. "Your eyes...!"  
  
Sasuke's eyes weren't the same. They weren't black anymore, but a deep crimson – like his brother's. Naruto shivered involuntarily at the thought.  
  
Sasuke's eyebrows rose a bit, before the expression of surprise was wiped away behind a cold and uncaring mask. Then he stated darkly, monotonously, "I have to kill my brother now."  
  
"Don't Sasuke!" Naruto pleaded, tears welling up in his eyes. "He'll kill you!"  
  
Sasuke stared at him with a faint pained expression, before he turned around completely towards his brother. "I am not afraid of death."  
  
Naruto watched helplessly as Sasuke moved between him and his brother, bleeding steadily from wounds on his head and arms. Sasuke no sooner moved than his brother was right in front of him, drawing a jagged sword from his cloak and sending it straight through the raven haired kul's mid-section with a sickening squelch.  
  
Naruto opened his mouth to cry out, but no sound came out. Itachi pulled his sword out swiftly with cold precision and Sasuke stood in that same position for seconds before gravity took over and he finally fell limply to the ground.  
  
Forcing all of the strength he had into his limbs, Naruto slowly crawled towards Sasuke's fallen body. Painfully, Naruto sat up beside him and forced out a trembling hand to trace Sasuke's jaw tenderly.  
  
"Sasuke..."  
  
Sasuke's eyes opened slowly and locked with Naruto's, before he coughed up an incredible amount of blood. Naruto winced and attempted to wipe it away, but the stain wouldn't leave no matter what he did. "Naruto..."  
  
"Shhh..." Naruto commanded, tears rolling down his cheeks. "Don't talk...Sasuke...just..."  
  
Sasuke coughed again. "I'm sorry..."  
  
"Stop it, Sasuke." Naruto chided weakly, ignoring his aching muscles and moving his fingers through the kul's raven locks. "Don't say anything...don't die...I'll save you...it'll all be alright now..."  
  
But Sasuke's eyes were closing and his breath was coming in shallow gasps.  
  
Naruto's tears fell harder. "Stay with me, Sasuke...don't leave me...please...hang on..."  
  
Sasuke gasped weakly and forced himself to whisper his next words. "Naruto...I...I love you..."  
  
Naruto's eyes widened and his hand went slack within Sasuke's hair, a new feeling of pain gripping at his heart. He felt like a vice had implanted itself within him, squeezing his very soul until it would surely burst. He couldn't stand it...Sasuke couldn't die after...after saying that...  
  
"I had no idea my brother was a fag." Itachi stated monotonously, watching the scene uncaringly.  
  
Pulled from his thoughts as though he was slapped in the face, Naruto glared at Itachi with all that he had. "You...!"  
  
"No matter." Itachi brushed it off, like a scarab beetle on his cloak. "There are more pressing issues."  
  
Naruto didn't even have the chance to scream as five fingers practically embedded themselves into his stomach, searing his skin. The same fingers continued to dig until Naruto could feel them inside of him, grabbing at something in his very core. The intense pain Naruto initially felt quadrupled and his eyes watered as he thought his very soul must have been ripping apart.  
  
He didn't know how right he was.  
  
"There it is." Itachi stated in a previously unheard of burst of excitement.  
  
Naruto felt a sudden tugging sensation. All he could do was watch on in shock and horror as Itachi pulled something out of his stomach. Something red and fiery and incredibly powerful.  
  
Gradually, the pain subsided, leaving a horrible numbness in its place. Naruto's mind suddenly felt very blank, as though a presence that had always been there in the background was now absent. And just in front of him, that missing presence was transforming from a recognizable fiery Fox djinn into a small, but beautiful, woman with long crimson hair.  
  
"Fox..." Naruto breathed, feeling weaker than before and abruptly finding it very difficult to manage the necessary strength it took to breathe regularly.  
  
"Naruto!" The woman stared at the blonde boy in horror before she peered around her with pain painted upon her visage, taking in the situation until her gaze fell on Sasuke's pale and bloody body not feet away. She glanced sorrowfully at Naruto, chest tightening at his bruised and battered form, and then glared at the unknown crimson eyed man who had so forcefully extracted her from her self imposed prison within the blonde.  
  
"Who are you and what is your business here?" She asked forcefully, revealing a high and melodic, feminine voice.  
  
Itachi bowed slightly, mockingly, before replying. "I am Uchiha Itachi and I am here to take you for myself, Kyuubi."  
  
The woman stiffened. "How do you know that name?"  
  
"Because it is yours." Itachi replied monotonously, stepping closer so that he stood almost nose to nose with her. "You are quite beautiful for a monster."  
  
The woman's chakra flared and she slapped Itachi hard on the jaw.  
  
Itachi smiled, but projected his obvious discomfort by placing a hand on his cheek.  
  
"Don't you ever call me by that name!" She hissed, clenching her fists. "Filth like you has no right to use it!"  
  
Itachi only stared back at her, the same cold smile still plastered on his face.  
  
She glared at the dark and evil man disgustedly, allowing her chakra to flare even more.  
  
She had locked herself away within Naruto, in order to separate herself as much as she could from his soul – to prevent another situation like that with the Badger djinn – but now she was beginning to regret her actions. By locking herself away, she had not only reduced the risk of her reacting negatively, but she unwillingly handicapped Naruto as well, taking away a large part of his chakra that had been melded within her own being over the years. She had locked herself in so tight that she couldn't even perceive what was happening to Naruto and now, Naruto was on the brink of death.  
  
What had she done?  
  
Yet, she knew she didn't have the time to ruminate on that. She had to set things right again, and save her little one.  
  
Widening her stance, she growled ferally, letting her hair and clothes whip around her with her sudden flare of chakra. "Who do you think you are to presume that you can own me?"  
  
But, following her threatening words, her chakra supply faltered and soon it was flowing out of her towards Itachi's glowing hand. Her yellow eyes glinted in worry, while she attempted desperately to pull her departing energy back, but it was no use. She only wasted more chakra in the effort.  
  
Finally, she stopped forcing her chakra around her, feeling strangely drained. Something she had never felt before with her previously infinite amount.  
  
Itachi slowly lowered his glowing hand, after the sucking in the last of her red chakra, with a deadpanned look. "That was good, but still not enough."  
  
The fox trembled in fury at his insolent tone, but she was worried. He had not been counting on this Itachi's adept skill when it came to chakra control. She heard a low gurgling sound behind her and whipped her head back in panic to see her little one coughing up more blood and gasping for hair with dull eyes.  
  
Suddenly, she felt a new power spike within her along with a new sense of protectiveness. This dark man had hurt her little one...her little kit. A low growl rose in her throat at the new maternal feelings growing within her bosom.  
  
"You will die for touching this boy!" She growled menacingly, her true voice slowly revealing itself beneath the words. Her new power spiked again, causing her very skin to glow a faint purple. "You want my power? See if you can handle it!"  
  
Itachi only sent her his usual barren look, before raising his hand once more. "I will take your offering."  
  
With that, the Fox's chakra exploded outwards in purple rivulets, blasting indiscriminately against buildings and surrounding walls.  
  
Itachi smiled at the burst as it traveled through his hand, warming and mixing with his existing power.  
  
The Fox roared and her chakra exploded again, this time a deeper, purer purple; almost doming her in a bubble of bright light.  
  
Itachi grimaced at the new feeling of pain that spiked up his arm. The new chakra raced into his core, burning everything in its wake like a ravenous fire. For the first time in his life, Itachi panicked, attempting with all his will to keep the new dangerous chakra from eating at his insides, but he couldn't stop it. He couldn't even close his hand. What was this power? It wasn't normal...it felt too pure...too untainted...  
  
The Fox roared louder, forcing out all that she had in a final excessive burst.  
  
Itachi let out a shocked scream as he began to feel his body crumbling away at the new onslaught of energy from the inside. It ate away at him from his core until it finally reached his neck. The last thing Itachi saw before he was taken whole was Kyuubi in her true form, rimmed in an endless, violet fire.  
  
Then the great Uchiha Itachi was no more.  
  
....................................  
  
The Fox collapsed, but not before she pulled back a large portion of her chakra from within Itachi's hollow body.  
  
With a sense of urgency, she crawled over to Naruto who she noticed with relief, was still breathing.  
  
She placed a hand on the pale boy's cheek and whispered a bit brokenly. "Naruto...little one..."  
  
The boy's eyes opened slowly, revealing a hazy blue. "Fox..." Naruto coughed, achingly placing a small hand upon her larger one. "You came..."  
  
"Shh...little one..." The fox admonished like a mother, gathering Naruto's small form into her arms. "You're safe now...I will heal you."  
  
Naruto's eyes closed briefly while an expression of pain raced across his face, before he opened them again and muttered hoarsely with a great sense of urgency, "No...Sasuke...how's Sasuke?"  
  
The Fox looked over at the black haired boy lying still in a pool of his own blood, then gazed sorrowfully down at Naruto. "I'm sorry little one...he's...."  
  
"No!" Naruto's voice practically ripped from his throat, his expression one of agony. "No...Fox...you have to heal him!" He let in another harsh breath. "Use your energy on him...I don't need it!"  
  
"I can't do that." The Fox replied regretfully. "I can't bring someone back to life."  
  
"Then take my power as well!" Naruto exclaimed harshly, voice hitching in pain. "Take anything you need....just...just don't let him die! Please...Fox...I love him..."  
  
Naruto, he's already de..." The Fox began, eyes tearing up in sympathy, but she trailed off when she saw the black haired boy miraculously twitch.  
  
"Fox...?" Naruto whispered dazedly, wondering why she hadn't finished her sentence.  
  
She continued to look to the side, before she pulled Naruto more securely within her arms and stood up, walking the short distance to Sasuke's body. Once there, she crouched down, allowing Naruto to see Sasuke clearly.  
  
Naruto's hand immediately snaked out from within her hold and caressed the deadened boy's cheek. Naruto whimpered at the cold contact, "Sasuke..."  
  
"He is still alive." The Fox stated, placing her own hand on Sasuke's deep stomach wound. "I don't know how, but his heart is still beating weakly within his chest."  
  
"Then you can save him?" Naruto gasped, both from pain and happiness.  
  
The Fox nodded, but smiled sadly. "Yes, I can save him."  
  
Naruto wondered at her sad expression, but didn't comment as she placed her hands directly over Sasuke's wound and pumped her own chakra into it. Slowly but surely, the hole closed itself up. Once the wound was healed, she continued her ministrations until Sasuke's dull complexion brightened, looking healthier.  
  
The Fox stopped abruptly and then gasped, clutching her stomach.  
  
Naruto shifted uncomfortably at the action, noticing how pale the Fox had gotten. "Fox, what's...?"  
  
"It's nothing." She replied curtly, releasing her hand from her stomach and placing it on Naruto's. "Now you."  
  
She did the same thing to Naruto, pumping her chakra steadily into him. Almost immediately he could feel the warmth fill him, flowing through his veins and giving him strength. His breathing became less labored and his vision became clearer, until the Fox finally pulled her hand back.  
  
Naruto breathed in deeply and smiled, feeling as though he had never been on the brink of death. He wanted to thank the Fox, but the way she was now clutching her body stopped him. He continued to watch her in confusion, before she let out a moan and fell to the ground.  
  
Naruto moved a hand beneath her head before it could hit the hard earth. "Fox...what's wrong?"  
  
The Fox smiled up at him with dull eyes, whispering, "Don't worry little one...It will be alright..." Her breath hitched. "Now that you are well, my little kit...I have no regrets."  
  
Naruto's eyes widened, voice trembling slightly. "What're you talking about?"  
  
"I'm dying, Naruto..." The Fox replied softly, face contorted in pain.  
  
"What? How?" Naruto asked, clutching her closer. "You can't..."  
  
"I took your pain...it was the only way..." She whispered, eyes slowly closing. "The only way..."  
  
"No!" Naruto burst out, tears falling down his cheeks yet again. "Fox...don't die...don't leave me! Mama!  
  
"...Mama!"  
  
But the Fox didn't answer and her face went slack, except for her soft lips curved upwards in a smile.  
  
Naruto could only sob harder, clutching her limp body closer to his own. He was so numb and distressed that he couldn't feel the warm arms envelope him from behind, comforting him as he cried and cried.  
  
"...mama..."  
  
.............................  
  
AN: (1) An adhaan is a Muslim call to prayer usually sung from the tower of a mosque five times a day as a reminder to Muslims to pray in the direction of Mecca. The call actually sounds quite beautiful and sad, in my opinion.  
  
This is the last official chapter...sob...but there is an epilogue, which may actually be considered the real final chapter. Trust me when I say that everything will be wrapped up in the epilogue.  
  
I wrote this chapter, hoping that it would give off a sense of victory, but that didn't really work out. I almost cried when I wrote Kyuubi's death...urrghh...and right when Naruto began to consider her his mother! So sad...  
  
Everything came out a bit differently then how I had originally planned, and I can't really tell whether it has come out better or just differently. I'm just glad Sasuke and Naruto are still alive and...maybe not well...but alive nonetheless.  
  
Obviously, this chapter was meant to be the last and it went on for a whole 19 pages, but I still wasn't able to wrap the entire story up...thus, on to the epilogue!  
  
Don't kill me...  
  
And thank you, thank you, thank you to all you reviewers and readers out there. I'm enjoying the ride...and I hope you are too! 


	16. Paradise is but a Dream

AN: I still don't own Naruto…and I never will, but I do own this fanfic in all of it's entirety! Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!

Chapter 15

Paradise is but a Dream

A lone swallow flew above the burnt city, crying out a lonely tune into the still air. It flew passed pillars of dying smoke and walls of broken sandstone, searching diligently for food on the ground below. Its search had already been difficult, due to the drastic change in its usual feeding ground. Tiredly, the little bird perched upon a tall spike protruding from the top of a sand pillar, gleaming harshly in the sun's rays.

Below it, a large group of people were gathering within a battle worn courtyard. The swallow continued to watch the people move silently, like the insects the bird frequently hunted. Yet, in its simple mind it knew that they could not be eaten, so the bird took flight yet again, swooping over the unfamiliar crowd and following the sun.

Its search would be difficult to finish before the sun set, but the little bird with the simple mind knew only hope. And thus, when the time came, it did not go home hungry.

…………………………..

Shikamaru let out a low breath before stepping out into the sun drenched courtyard from the dark and secluded palace corridor. He squinted against the light to see a multitude of people emerge from corridors and archways on every side of the main courtyard, looking just as lost and disoriented as he felt.

The Valide Sultan Tsunade stepped out into the middle and addressed the crowd, holding up her hands as if to get attention – though every eye had been trained on her since she stepped into the light.

She lowered hands and beckoned all of the people to come into the yard. "My people, I have been informed that the battle has ceased. It seems that our great Empire and our great Capitol City are safe once again. Through Allah's grace we have vanquished those who have wished us only ill."

A low muttering washed over the crowd like a wave, punctuated every so often by sounds of relieved laughter.

Tsunade smiled, but held up her hands once again, immediately bringing silence. "However, until your safety can be fully ascertained, I will advise that you all stay within the palace walls, preferably within this courtyard."

Many in the crowd let out a groan, including Shikamaru who had moved to lean against a pillar tiredly. He noticed in slight surprise that the Sultana, Ino, had followed his actions completely, and was now right beside him, watching her Great Mother warily. Her sister, Sakura, had plopped down onto the cobblestones soon after, followed by Rock Lee who had been practically attached to her by the hip since he had first declared his undying attraction to her. Kiba and Choji finally walked out into the courtyard, rubbing their eyes tiredly.

Shikamaru let out a small, fatigued smile. Today had been really tiring for everyone and they all had been itching to get out of that safe room for what seemed like hours. But now, they still had to stay within a courtyard.

Shikamaru slumped more against the pillar and slid down until he was sitting lazily upon the ground. He sure hoped his captivity here wouldn't last too long.

Following his example, the rest of the group, comprised of mostly teenagers, sat upon the ground and a peaceful silence came over them for a while. Each person stuck in his or her own thoughts.

Eventually, it was Lee who broke the silence. "So, Shikamaru, where's Naruto-kun?"

All eyes switched to Shikamaru at the question. They were curious to know the answer as well.

Shikamaru sighed and rubbed his temples out of habit. "How should I know?"

Rock Lee smiled placatingly. "Sorry, I just thought since you were a teammate…"

"He's not really a teammate." Choji added, digging through a new sack of pork bites. "We only live in the same pueblo."

Kiba grunted in agreement from his other side, petting Akamaru. "If anyone would know, Sasuke would…" Kiba paused suddenly, looking from face to face of the teens around him. "Come to think of it, where is Sasuke?"

Sakura and Ino bristled as all eyes turned to them.

"What?" They both asked in unison.

Shikamaru's eyebrows rose, prompting Ino to reply a bit huffily. "There's no way we would know where that kul is, if that's what your insinuating."

"Oh come on!" Kiba smirked, looking back and forth between the two Sultanas. "Don't tell us you've stopped stalking him!"

Ino frowned but Sakura just looked away, a bit of sadness marring her features. "It's not like that anymore."

Kiba was about to ask what Sakura meant by that statement when the largest wall adjacent to the group collapsed into a hill of sand.

Kiba coughed as the some of the loose sand entered his lungs. "You know…" Cough, cough. "That happens way too often around here."

"And yet…" Shikamaru smirked. "It's a surprise every time."

Sakura gasped when the loose sand in the air finally settled, letting them all see the Sultan stepping over the mound, followed closely by a black haired kul Sakura immediately recognized as Sasuke. But that wasn't all. Sakura's eyes widened along with everyone else's as Sasuke turned slightly, revealing a small blond boy perched limply on his back.

"Naruto…!" Rock Lee gasped, worried for his friend. "Is he alright?"

"I don't know." Shikamaru answered. "But who is the Sultan carrying?"

"It looks like a woman." Kiba observed, eyeing the long glistening, red hair and the bare legs draped heavily over the Sultan's arms.

"I've never seen her before." Choji muttered, squinting. "Do you think she's royalty?"

"No." Ino replied, sounding just as curious. "I know my entire family and I've never seen her before. Not even once."

They all continued to watch in puzzlement as the Sultan stopped in front of Tsunade and whispered in her ear. She stepped back a bit, eyes widened, before she looked down at the woman in his arms and then nodded. Then, the Sultan beckoned to Sasuke by tilting his head in the direction of a tall building with four large steeples, and both made their way out of the courtyard, each carrying their respective burdens.

The teens all looked at each other in confusion, when the arrivals were finally out of sight.

"What the hell…?" Kiba voiced the question on everyone's mind.

Shikamaru could only frown before Tsunade's voice echoed throughout the courtyard.

"There has been a new development, one which we must all observe and reflect upon." Tsunade looked around at the crowd, a touch of sadness and awe in her voice. "I have just been informed of the identity of our Empire's savior. Sadly, this brave soul gave up life for the good of the people. A proper funeral will be taking place in the Grand Mosque. I ask you all to attend and grieve for this great loss."

Finished, Tsunade turned on her heal and walked out of the courtyard, presumably towards the Mosque.

"I don't understand." Rock Lee said worriedly. "Is the funeral for Naruto?"

Shikamaru thought back to Naruto's limp body on Sasuke's back. He did look dead in that position, but… "No." Shikamaru replied curtly, standing up to follow the Valide Sultan to the Mosque. He refused to believe that Naruto could die that easily…that such a young boy could even be dead. "I don't think so. The funeral's probably for that unknown woman."

Rock Lee let out a sigh of relief, following Shikamaru.

Soon all of the teens were making their way to the mosque, along with the rest of the crowd at large; each teen hoping silently to themselves that Shikamaru was right.

No one hoped so more, however, than Shikamaru himself.

…………………………..

Naruto's eyes slid open as the feeling of warmth faded from around him and he slid against the cold floor. He was incredibly disoriented, peering at his surroundings in the cavernous and geometrically designed room with the incredibly high domed ceiling, before his gaze fell upon a black robed Imam (1) placing a woman's body upon a raised platform while a servant held a large, white sheet.

Naruto shook his head in confusion at the entire scene, attempting to remember just how he had gotten where he was. He couldn't see much of the body, but he could tell it was a woman by the slender ankles and petite hands which splayed limply from the platform. He watched in numb fascination as yet another servant brought out a bowl of water and placed it reverently by the body, before stepping away slowly.

Suddenly, Naruto's hand was gripped by another and he switched his gaze to the interlocked hands before following the foreign arm with his gaze and ending at the other's face. Naruto smiled with the ignorance of a child at the warm, yet saddened, onyx orbs that greeted him within a pale and beautiful visage.

"Sasuke…" Naruto mumbled, smiling all the more as the name escaped his lips.

Sasuke just smiled back at him warmly, yet his eyes still held that strange sad expression. "You're awake."

Naruto looked at him with a puzzled expression, before smiling and asking softly, "Yeah…where are we? How did we get here?"

Sasuke's eyes widened a bit, before he snaked his arm around Naruto's shoulders and pulled the blond gently against his chest. Naruto leaned back, still watching the men with the body just feet away, as Sasuke's warm breath gently rolled against the back of his neck.

"Don't you…remember, Naruto?" Sasuke asked lowly, his voice vibrating through his chest and traveling to Naruto's back.

Naruto frowned and looked back at the raven haired boy, placing a hand on his cheek. "Remember what?" Naruto smiled innocently, subconsciously brushing away the tiny sense of foreboding that was tickling at the back of his mind.

Sasuke suddenly looked pained and he placed a slightly trembling hand atop Naruto's on his cheek. "I know it's hard, but…try to remember, Naruto."

Naruto felt a sudden sense of panic jump up his spine at the words – something instinctual told him that remembering whatever he had forgotten would be bad. "No…Sasuke…"

"Yes." Sasuke replied softly, tightening his grip on Naruto's hand, still placed upon his cheek. "Please…Naruto. Remember."

Naruto's eyes widened and he tried to pull away, but Sasuke wouldn't let him, only tightening his arm around Naruto's waist. Naruto shuddered involuntarily as an unwanted image suddenly invaded his mind. Sasuke was on the ground, soaking in a pool of his own blood, which was steadily oozing from a wound in his stomach.

He gasped.

Naruto clutched his free hand on the side of his head, tears collecting slowly in his eyes. The images never relented.

Cold, blood-red eyes were staring back at him uncaringly – a dark knee cap connected with his jaw full force, sending his blurred vision upon the hazy and smoke ridden sky – Sasuke collapsed and held his head, then vomited all over the ground with deep heaves – searing fingers plunged into his stomach, digging inside of him until his very core was ripped apart – A woman with fire red hair and bright yellow eyes rocked him gently, telling him he would be alright – Sasuke's dull skin receded into a healthy tone – His pain left his battered body, finally being able to breathe again –

His mama was dying in his arms.

He looked over his shoulder at the woman's body that was now being washed diligently and expertly by the Imam's servants with the scented water. He noticed details about her for the first time, like the abnormally sharp cut of her nails and the slightly vulpine upturn of her nose and mouth. But most importantly, he saw her long, wavy red hair falling around the platform like fiery rivulets.

There was no mistake. It was the fox. The woman who had watched over him whether he knew it or not all of his life. She protected him without hesitation and he knew now that she loved him as though he was her own kit.

Naruto choked back a sob, clutching a small hand to his mouth. "Mama…no…"

Naruto felt all of his previous numbness wash away until only pain resided within his small body. Suddenly, he could feel everything, as though he had been thrown into a harsh pool of ice. Naruto crumpled, his face wet and his mouth trembling.

Sasuke's arms wrapped around him, enveloping him in a soft warmth, bringing forth another memory. The memory of someone holding him as he grieved for his mother, holding him tight until a thick blackness took over.

"Sasuke…" Naruto whispered hoarsely, not really knowing what to say or how to deal with the pain. "You're alive."

Sasuke smiled with a bittersweet expression, pulling Naruto closer until his tellingly wet cheek rubbed against Naruto's. "Yes, Naruto-kun. Everything will be alright now. I promise."

Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke tightly and nestled his face into the crook of the raven haired kul's neck. "My mom saved us both…she…I told her not to…she didn't have to save me…I only wanted you to live…but she…"

Sasuke's embrace tightened at the blonde's subsequent sob. "I could never live without you, Naruto. I am grateful for your mother – the Fox. She saved me in more ways than one."

Naruto pulled back and gazed into Sasuke's eyes, cerulean blue still welling with unshed tears. "I'm grateful too…but….it still hurts so much…!"

Sasuke could only gaze at the blonde boy sadly and attempt to brush away his tears with his thumbs. Sasuke idly noticed that Naruto's cheeks were no longer marred by his familiar whisker like scars, leaving his skin an even and spotless tan. Naruto gazed back at him in anguish, but Sasuke could also detect another more powerful emotion almost hidden beneath it. He almost gasped at its intensity as Naruto bit back another sob, still holding Sasuke's eyes with his own.

"I love you so much Sasuke."

It had only been whispered, but Sasuke felt as if the words had been shouted as they continued to echo within his head.

Suddenly Naruto was back against his chest, breathing onto his collarbone. "I thought you were dead…it hurt so much…I wanted to die, so that you could live…but you were saved…she saved you…

"I love you…I love you…"

Naruto stopped mumbling at the overwhelming feeling that flowed through him. Even though he felt a great sadness at the thought, he knew that the Fox had given him the greatest gift she could give. After all of her trials and tribulations fighting the stigma of a powerful, blood thirsty djinn – she had finally shown the true power of her heart.

Sasuke gently placed a hand upon Naruto's golden hair and then kissed his forehead tenderly, trying to slow his racing heart. "I love you too…I've loved you for such a long time."

The two boys sat in each other's arms for long moments, both grieving for their loss and celebrating their new chance at life, until the mosque began to fill up with people from all entrances.

Naruto slowly extricated himself from Sasuke's comfortable embrace and peered around the room, as more and more people walked in and sat upon the endless floor. Most faces were unrecognizable, but some were familiar. Naruto actually felt himself smile weakly as Rock Lee waved at him from the other side of the room, walking beside Shikamaru, Kiba, Choji, the two distant kuls – Shino and Neji – and even the two Sultanas – Sakura and Ino. Somehow, Naruto was able to hear Rock Lee exclaim to the rest: "Naruto's not dead after all!" This left Naruto with a very perplexed look, thinking he must have misheard the statement.

The room continued to fill, until Naruto was sure no one else could possibly fit, but more kept coming.

"What're they here for?" Naruto asked quietly, addressing Sasuke with wide eyes.

Sasuke sent a glance towards the platform and then gazed back at Naruto. "They are here to observe and carry out the funeral rites."

Naruto bit his lip at the painful reminder. "They're here for the Fox?"

"Of course." Sasuke pulled Naruto back down against his chest. "She saved us all – she died for the entire Empire."

Naruto grew quiet at this, sunk in pure disbelief that the Fox could ever gain such a crowd to attend her funeral out of respect. He knew she would be incredibly happy if she were here to see this. The thought was equally bitter and sweet.

Naruto was pulled from his thoughts with the arrival of his father, Iruka, and General Kakashi, both sitting down beside Naruto and Sasuke solemnly.

Iruka placed his hand gently on Naruto's head, as the blonde stared back, unable to convey his emotions in words at the sight of his father. Iruka spoke for him.

"I heard what happened from the Sultan." He stated soothingly. "I'm so very sorry Naruto."

Naruto bit his lip and looked away, fighting his urge to sob all over again. He was becoming incredibly tired of crying. "It's…okay, chichi-ue."

Both Iruka and Kakashi stared at him solemnly, before Kakashi finally broke the tense silence by placing his hand on Naruto's head and ruffling his hair endearingly. "You're a strong kul, Naruto-kun."

Naruto attempted to smile back in reassurance, but failed; finding it harder and harder to push back the almost sickening sensation rising in his gut. This whole event was making the Fox's death all too real. He didn't think he could stand to be there for a moment longer.

He was just about to jump up and escape when the Sultan's booming voice rang against the sandstone walls.

The Sultan began to recite the customary Salat Al-Janazah(2) to begin the burial process. When he was done, the entire mosque was silent, many of the occupants bowing in Islamic fashion to pray.

"Let Allah guide this blessed soul into his merciful paradise, where the sun no longer burns and the sand no longer stings. Let this pure soul be taken into Allah's warm embrace, where love is boundless and comfort is plentiful. Let this woman, who was once a djinn, look upon the heaven of mortals and be welcomed through its golden gates only to know pure contentment for all eternity; for she has become the salvation of this Empire through the greatest act of selflessness."

The Sultan paused and looked around the room at the entire audience, before continuing in a slightly more subdued tone.

"Our good empire has been spared at the cost of an outcast, leaving me to believe that Allah's plan is truly awesome in its complexities and valuable lessons. We all live and die within Allah's warm embrace, taking of the garden of paradise under His good auspices."

The Sultan stepped away from his place in the front of the mosque and waved his hand at the Imam, who then moved from in front of the fox's body, letting all of the occupants in the room see her in her entirety.

Some people gasped at the sight of her now completely naked flesh, but not because she was naked. It was because although life had already left her, her skin still held an unnatural glow.

Naruto's heart ached at the sight, watching as the Imam unfolded a long white cloth which he then wrapped around her entire body with practiced ease.

Sasuke squeezed Naruto's hand with his in an attempt to ease the blonde's tenseness. Naruto forced a small smile and squeezed back, reassuring Sasuke that he was alright.

Once her entire body was covered, the two servants from before, picked up the platform at either side and carried it through the audience and out the front door. Everyone stood in a wave and slowly followed the servants with their load until they all surrounded the fox's body in a grand courtyard.

Naruto moved to the front of the crowd, along with Sasuke, Iruka, and Kakashi, but when he got there, a sense of dizziness overwhelmed him. Naruto fell to the ground, but got caught at the arm by Sasuke just before his head hit stone. Just as suddenly, the dizziness was gone, and Naruto stood back up with Sasuke's help.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke asked, looking a bit worried.

"I'm fine…thanks." Naruto replied breathlessly. "I don't know…"

But Naruto's words left him, for he could swear the cloth covering the fox's body was moving. "Mama?"

Before anyone could stop him, Naruto ran out into the middle of the yard, almost falling onto the Fox's body in his haste. He managed to place his hand upon the cloth instead, keeping himself steady. The moment his hand touched, the cloth glowed a bright purple and completely disintegrated.

Naruto only had enough time to fall back on his behind as the fox's mortal body glowed blindingly in front of him, slowly lifting into the air. The rest of the crowd gasped and then the light exploded, making everyone shield their eyes against its brightness. When Naruto opened his eyes again, a large fiery fox djinn was floating limply in the woman's place.

It continued to spin slowly in midair until it fell gently back upon the ground, completely covering the platform and more.

The entire crowd was struck silent, some with mouths hanging wide open. Even the Imam seemed not to know what to do with himself. None of them had ever seen such a creature – something that looked so dangerous, but beautiful at the same time.

Shakily, Naruto pushed himself up and ran to the Fox's real body, burying himself in the fox's thick fur the moment he reached it.

"Mama." Naruto mumbled into the fur, thinking that the fox could have miraculously come back to life. "Wake up."

But the fox did not stir, instead its fur began to glow a deeper, purer, purple hue. Naruto's squinted eyes opened in shock when the glowing chakra embraced him and flowed into his very veins. He could feel the powerful energy wash within him in a spiraling torrent.

He gasped and pulled himself off of the Fox's body. Soon after, the new chakra within him settled down into his core – where the Fox had once been.

Naruto closed his eyes, hoping against hope that the Fox would be there again, trapped within his own soul. But he could find no Fox, only an indescribable amount of power – her power.

Naruto stared at the Fox's limp body as it began to fade into nothingness, beginning with the tips of its tails. He continued to watch in slight horror and sadness as the nothingness spread until the fox's body had completely vanished, leaving not a trace of its existence upon the earth.

Naruto fell to his knees and stared numbly as the Imam and his servants rushed out to feel the area around the platform, as though thinking that the fox had only become invisible. He felt Sasuke run a soothing hand along his upper back as he crouched behind him; followed by the presence of the Sultan, who stood beside him.

"Even in the end, she could only think of your wellbeing, Naruto-kun. Neither her soul nor her body was fit for this humble earth." The Sultan stated, looking down at Naruto now. "Allah must truly think highly of her to let her take her body into heaven, but the rest, she left to you.

"She must have loved you very much."

Naruto just looked back up at him blankly, in complete wonderment of the new power he felt, mixing with his own chakra.

The Sultan just smiled, pulling the blonde up off the ground. "She will be content now. Don't waste your time feeling sorry for her. All you can do now is honor her sacrifice by living. It's what she wanted for you."

Naruto managed to nod blankly, letting the Sultan lead him back into the Palace.

"In honor of her sacrifice and given the nature of our familial ties," The Sultan began, pulling Naruto down corridor after corridor, while being followed closely by an unnaturally befuddled Sasuke. "You are now officially free from kuldom."

Naruto smiled slowly, finally letting his grandfather's words sink in. Suddenly, he felt happier than he had in a long time. Somehow, he knew that the Sultan was right about the Fox. She was in a better place – and she would want Naruto to continue to live a full life in happiness.

Then his thoughts turned to the other issue at hand. "I'm free!"

The Sultan smiled heartily. "Yep, it wouldn't look too good if my own grandson was kept as my slave. Besides, you've earned it by yourself."

Naruto smiled but then almost immediately frowned. "But what about Sasuke…and my friends?"

The Sultan pretended to look disturbed by the very question. "Oh? What about them?"

Naruto stopped so suddenly that Sasuke almost bumped into him from behind, leaving the Sultan to stop and turn to look back at Naruto's exaggerated frown with a grin.

"I don't want to be free if they aren't." Naruto mumbled stubbornly, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

The Sultan knew it would come to this, so he only smiled lightly and turned around. "If you insist."

"W…Wait…" Naruto stuttered, running after the Sultan again. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean," Replied the Sultan, never wavering in his long strides through the Palace. "That all of your kapikulli friends are now free."

The Sultan was forced to stop mid-stride as what felt like a ball of muscle wrapped around his legs.

Naruto had jumped onto him in glee. "Really, really? Do you hear that, Sasuke? We're free!"

Sasuke gaped at the two and then smiled openly. The thought of freedom was almost too good to be true.

But Sasuke found himself overcome by many questions that needed answers.

"Grandson?"

………………………………

Epilogue

The crowds were thick as Naruto pushed through them, looking for something he knew was just up ahead. He had had this dream before – in fact, he had been having it off and on for years – but every time, he woke up before he reached his goal. It was more than a little frustrating.

The crowds began to thin, allowing Naruto to see his surroundings more clearly. He was in a village, that much he knew, and something at the back of his mind told him that this place was the village of the Leaf, but it looked nothing like the home village he knew. The buildings were a strange style, not fit for the desert at all, and all of the signs were written in an unfamiliar script, none of it Arabic or Roman.

Even the people were a little different. Their form of dress was their strangest feature. None of the women wore balaclavas and some even wore pants. During the first few instances of this dream that was the only thing Naruto could seem to think about.

Naruto continued to walk down the street that he had walked down in his mind many times before. Children in strange clothes ran passed him, some waving, and one wearing a tacky cloak tied around his neck and yelling, "heya boss!".

Naruto stared at the strange looking pillars that adorned the side of the road every few paces, connected together by some sort of thick black rope. He had no idea what they were for, but they certainly weren't there to be pretty. Personally, he felt that they were the ugliest things in this village, marring the view of the sky from the street – but no one else seemed to mind.

He walked and walked, letting his feet carry him, until he reached a tall mismatched building that he somehow knew he needed to climb. He began to feel excited that the prospect, realizing that this was the farthest he had ever gotten in one of these dreams.

Naruto leapt from rooftop to rooftop effortlessly until he was at the very top of the tall building. What he saw almost made him fall back off.

A huge, rock cliff was straight ahead of him, and carved within the cliff face were four, distinct, men's faces. Naruto's gaze caught on the last one, something about the face felt eerily familiar, like he was supposed to know that man behind the caricature quite well…in another life.

"You've finally made it."

Naruto turned around quickly to see a tall, blonde man standing behind him, gazing down at him with crystal blue eyes.

"I'm glad." The man smiled a bit mischievously at Naruto's open-mouthed expression. "There's someone else who has been waiting to see you again for a long time."

Naruto's knees began to wobble from under him at the person he saw walk towards him from behind the blonde man. It was a woman with fiery red hair, adorned in a silk, turquoise robe.

"Mama…" Naruto whispered disbelievingly.

"Hello, little one." She replied, smiling slightly. "I'm so happy to see you."

Naruto immediately jumped into her arms and she embraced him back tightly, laughing at his excitement. "Fox…Mama! I've missed you so much."

Eventually, the Fox set him back down and indicated the man beside her. "Naruto, I would like you to meet your father, Uzumaki Dai."

The man, who looked no older than 25 solar years, smiled down at him a bit awkwardly. "Hey, son."

This time, Naruto did fall over, landing on his backside but not feeling anything – reminding him that this was a dream. The thought dampened his mood considerably.

"You're not real, are you?" He asked, looking down. "This is just a dream, isn't it?"

The Fox glanced from Naruto to Naruto's father, before replying. "Well…it's a bit complicated. You see, we are here and we are real, but this world is made by you."

His father smirked at Naruto's further stupefied expression. "What she's trying to say is that we are both meeting you from the afterlife, using your dreams as a medium. It's taken a long time, but it seems as though all the waiting has paid off. You've finally been dreaming long enough for us to get through."

"Eh!" Naruto exclaimed, looking at the two as though they were crazy. "I've been having these dreams for four years!"

His father just shrugged, putting his arm casually around the Fox's shoulders. "We've got time. Lot's of time."

"Yeah, well I don't." Naruto grumbled half-heartedly.

"Anyway," The Fox cut in, noticing that the sun was beginning to set on Naruto's dream time. "I wanted to meet you again, little one, but I also wanted to let you know that I'm always watching over you – both your father and I. Although, he's been doing it for a lot longer than I have."

Naruto could've sworn his father blushed at the last statement. "Yeah, it was beginning to get a little boring." He grinned good-naturedly at his son. "I'm just glad you got forced into slavery. That was a lot more entertaining to watch!"

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, but his anger dissipated a bit when the Fox punched his father 'lightly' on the arm.

"Don't tease him, Dai."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Kyuubi-chan." His father smirked lightly, pulling her closer.

Naruto smiled at the scene. They truly did love each other – his father and his mother.

"Will I ever see you again?" Naruto asked, suddenly noticing that his dream world was fading.

Both his father and mother smiled down at him.

"You will when you pass on, but don't rush." His father answered.

Naruto nodded, finding it harder and harder to focus on their faces.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." His father's voice sounded through the increasing blackness. "Try not to be so loud when in the act, many inhabitants of the palace haven't been able to get proper sleep."

Naruto actually felt his dream-self's cheeks burn, before he woke up.

…………………………….

The bed covers were pushed aside gently, silently, as the young man within them stepped out of the bed.

Moonlight filtered in through the transparent silk curtains, bathing the entire room in blue light.

The young man used that light to look upon his lover, who was sleeping peacefully, splayed heavily on his stomach with one errant hand placed upon the pillow where the other young man once was. The young man continued to gaze like this for what seemed like hours, but was really only seconds, before he made his way out the open window and onto the balcony.

His arms hung over the railing in his usual way, as he looked out over the firelight of the city. The mosque still gleamed brightest of all, made out of white limestone and adorned with torches on every turret.

He remembered so many things about that mosque. It was where he had said goodbye to his mother – with deep sorrow. But it was also where he had witnessed a grand wedding. An event celebrating life.

The young man smiled wryly, pushing an errant golden lock out of his face. That had actually been quite fun. He couldn't believe the look on Shikamaru's face when the ceremony was over. It was as though the earth itself had been unceremoniously pulled out from under him. Ino had looked considerably more down to earth and he had never seen the blond sultana look so genuinely happy. Rock Lee, on the other hand, was as boisterous as ever, while his face was completely red through his entire betrothal. Naruto was actually quite shocked to see Sakura's cheeks tinted a bit pink as well, adorning a sincere upturn of her lips as the Imam blessed their union.

More recently, that mosque was where he had been named Caliph of the great city of the Sand. It had been a great honor and he didn't think he really deserved it, but the Sultan would hear none of it. Even Tsunade had hugged him when he voiced his doubts, telling him that he deserved more than a title for the things he did. He had simply blushed at that, hugging her back sincerely.

Overall, that mosque served to remind him of all that was important about life. He would never forget its lessons.

The wind blew across his face sending his hair flying once again into his face, he moved to push it away, but a hand shot out from behind and captured the locks for him.

"Did I wake you?" The blonde asked, never turning around to see who it was. He knew.

"No." The other lied, moving to stand beside him and look out at the view. "You couldn't sleep?"

"I just had a dream." The blonde smiled, returning the other's gaze for the first time. "It's nothing."

The other peered at him from the corner of his eye. "The same dream?"

The blonde released a breath. "Yeah. But now, I think it's over."

"Hn." Was the other's only reply.

They both stood there on that balcony in companionable silence, before the raven haired man spoke.

"Are you going to come back to bed, Naruto?"

The blonde nodded, blue eyes shining in the moonlight. "In a bit."

The other stepped forward and placed a chaste kiss on the blonde's cheek, muttering lightly in his ear right afterward. "I'll be waiting."

The blonde smiled, tilting his head so that his lips connected with the other's. He nibbled slightly on the other man's lower lip before finally breaking away, staring serenely into black orbs. "I'll be there, Sasuke."

Sasuke nodded and smiled, and Naruto watched him until he was back in the room, hidden by the flowing curtains.

Naruto took one last look at the moonlit landscape below, before following his best friend and lover back into his chamber.

closing the window behind him, the blonde gazed into the room. Sasuke was lying on the bed invitingly, smiling at him softly like he had many times before.

Naruto smiled, remembering his father's words. This time, he would make sure to muffle his cries.

…………………………..

AN: (1) An Imam is a priest of Islam. Kind of like a Catholic priest except…er…Muslim.

(2) the Salat Al-Janazah is a prayer sung during an Islamic funeral.

Finally, it is over…this is the end, my friends. I hope it wasn't incredibly disappointing. At least it was happy. This story has seriously taken a lot out of me, as it is the first on-going fanfic I have ever completed. Yay! Now I can go on to write other fics!

I just wanted to thank all of my reviewers for all of their kind words and support. I also wanted to thank all of the people who just read the fic, but didn't review…if there are any of you. I'd always like to think that that is the case. It's nice to believe that a lot of people have read my fic, especially if they've stuck with the fic this far. That's always nice. I just hope it never got too boring! Hehe…

Thank you: sylver rain, ElizabethMarieRose, Jennyah, kitsune, Toki Mirage, Yasha-sama, ghostninja85, Yasai-chan, Miko, Ryouseiteki, silverlook, Psychotic Azn, Muchacha, kashisenshey, TheTrueSilver, infamous-otaku03, The Red TrenchCoat, d-scribe, Anael Razualle, Kisu, jinky-kurapica, Gisela, Hikari of Darkness, Ookima, lost complex, Eikou, Shirl, Michi, Iceheart19, Akki, Ayako, Watermelon Gal, miekje, ITSAME, yo, Kuroi Hikari, rar, B.U.G.I.M.S., Mister Pineapple, Bishiehuggler, Athea, yaoi-fanatic, WaterBookLover, cfox, hikaritenshi4, asds, and kuroi kitsune13.

Thank you all! A hug to each and every one of you!

Oh yeah…if you guys wanna see more of my artwork for this fic, just go to my homepage…I did another 'poster' and a rendition of Kyuubi in her female form.

Well, until next time then…


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